Systems and methods for selecting which power transmitter should deliver wireless power to a receiving device in a wireless power delivery network

ABSTRACT

The embodiments described herein include a transmitter that transmits a power transmission signal (e.g., radio frequency (RF) signal waves) to create a three-dimensional pocket of energy. At least one receiver can be connected to or integrated into electronic devices and receive power from the pocket of energy. A wireless power network may include a plurality of wireless power transmitters each with an embedded wireless power transmitter manager, including a wireless power manager application. The wireless power network may include a plurality of client devices with wireless power receivers. Wireless power receivers may include a power receiver application configured to communicate with the wireless power manager application. The wireless power manager application may include a device database where information about the wireless power network may be stored.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Non-Provisionalpatent application Ser. No. 14/272,124, filed May 7, 2014, entitled“System and Method for Controlling Communication Between Wireless PowerTransmitter Managers,” which is herein fully incorporated by referencein its entirety.

This application relates to U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser.No. 13/891,430, filed May 10, 2013, entitled “Methodology ForPocket-forming;” U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No.13/925,469, filed Jun. 24, 2013, entitled “Methodology for MultiplePocket-Forming;” U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No.13/946,082, filed Jul. 19, 2013, entitled “Method for 3 DimensionalPocket-forming;” U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No.13/891,399, filed May 10, 2013, entitled “Receivers for Wireless PowerTransmission;” U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No.13/891,445, filed May 10, 2013, entitled “Transmitters for WirelessPower Transmission;” U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No.14/336,987, filed Jul. 21, 2014, entitled “System and Method for SmartRegistration of Wireless Power Receivers in a Wireless Power Network,”U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 14/286,289, filed May23, 2014, entitled “System and Method for Generating a Power ReceiverIdentifier in a Wireless Power Network,” U.S. Non-Provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 14/583,625, filed Dec. 27, 2014, entitled“Receivers for Wireless Power Transmission,” U.S. Non-Provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 14/583,630, filed Dec. 27, 2014, entitled“Methodology for Pocket-Forming,” U.S. Non-Provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 14/583,634, filed Dec. 27, 2014, entitled“Transmitters for Wireless Power Transmission,” U.S. Non-Provisionalpatent application Ser. No. 14/583,640, filed Dec. 27, 2014, entitled“Methodology for Multiple Pocket-Forming,” U.S. Non-Provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 14/583,641, filed Dec. 27, 2014, entitled “WirelessPower Transmission with Selective Range,” U.S. Non-Provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 14/583,643, filed Dec. 27, 2014, entitled “Methodfor 3 Dimensional Pocket-Forming,” all of which are incorporated hereinby reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless power transmission.

BACKGROUND

Portable electronic devices such as smart phones, tablets, notebooks andother electronic devices have become an everyday need in the way wecommunicate and interact with others. The frequent use of these devicesmay require a significant amount of power, which may easily deplete thebatteries attached to these devices. Therefore, a user is frequentlyneeded to plug in the device to a power source, and recharge suchdevice. This may require having to charge electronic equipment at leastonce a day, or in high-demand electronic devices more than once a day.

Such an activity may be tedious and may represent a burden to users. Forexample, a user may be required to carry chargers in case his electronicequipment is lacking power. In addition, users have to find availablepower sources to connect to. Lastly, users must plugin to a wall orother power supply to be able to charge his or her electronic device.However, such an activity may render electronic devices inoperableduring charging.

Current solutions to this problem may include devices havingrechargeable batteries. However, the aforementioned approach requires auser to carry around extra batteries, and also make sure that the extraset of batteries is charged. Solar-powered battery chargers are alsoknown, however, solar cells are expensive, and a large array of solarcells may be required to charge a battery of any significant capacity.Other approaches involve a mat or pad that allows charging of a devicewithout physically connecting a plug of the device to an electricaloutlet, by using electromagnetic signals. In this case, the device stillrequires to be placed in a certain location for a period of time inorder to be charged. Assuming a single source power transmission ofelectro-magnetic (EM) signal, an EM signal gets reduced by a factorproportional to 1/r2 in magnitude over a distance r, in other words, itis attenuated proportional to the square of the distance. Thus, thereceived power at a large distance from the EM transmitter is a smallfraction of the power transmitted. To increase the power of the receivedsignal, the transmission power would have to be boosted. Assuming thatthe transmitted signal has an efficient reception at three centimetersfrom the EM transmitter, receiving the same signal power over a usefuldistance of three meters would entail boosting the transmitted power by10,000 times. Such power transmission is wasteful, as most of the energywould be transmitted and not received by the intended devices, it couldbe hazardous to living tissue, it would most likely interfere with mostelectronic devices in the immediate vicinity, and it may be dissipatedas heat.

In yet another approach such as directional power transmission, it wouldgenerally require knowing the location of the device to be able to pointthe signal in the right direction to enhance the power transmissionefficiency. However, even when the device is located, efficienttransmission is not guaranteed due to reflections and interference ofobjects in the path or vicinity of the receiving device.

SUMMARY

The embodiments described herein include a transmitter that transmits apower transmission signal (e.g., radio frequency (RF) signal waves) tocreate a three-dimensional pocket of energy. At least one receiver canbe connected to or integrated into electronic devices and receive powerfrom the pocket of energy. The transmitter can locate the at least onereceiver in a three-dimensional space using a communication medium(e.g., Bluetooth technology). The transmitter generates a waveform tocreate a pocket of energy around each of the at least one receiver. Thetransmitter uses an algorithm to direct, focus, and control the waveformin three dimensions. The receiver can convert the transmission signals(e.g., RF signals) into electricity for powering an electronic device.Accordingly, the embodiments for wireless power transmission can allowpowering and charging a plurality of electrical devices without wires.

A wireless power network may include wireless power transmitters eachwith an embedded wireless power transmitter manager. The wireless powertransmitter manager may include a wireless power manager application,which may be a software application hosted in a computing device. Thewireless power transmitter manager may include a GUI which may be usedby a user to perform management tasks.

The wireless power network may include a plurality of client deviceswith wireless power receivers built in as part of the device or adaptedexternally. Wireless power receivers may include a power receiverapplication configured to communicate with the power transmitter managerapplication in a wireless power transmitter. The wireless power managerapplication may include a device database where information about thewireless power network may be stored.

In one embodiment, a system for providing simultaneous communication ina wireless power delivery network, comprises: a plurality of powertransmitters communicatively coupled to at least one transmittermanager; and at least one power receiver communicatively coupled to atleast one user device; wherein the at least one transmitter managerreceives from the at least one user device a selection indicatorindicative of at least one of signal strength or proximity of the atleast one user device relative to ones of the plurality of powertransmitters; and wherein the transmission of controlled powertransmission signals to produce a plurality of pockets of energy by onesof the plurality of power transmitters to the at least one powerreceiver is controlled by the at least one transmitter manager inaccordance with the selection indicator.

In another embodiment, a method for providing simultaneous communicationin a wireless power delivery network, comprises: transmitting, by atleast one of a plurality of power transmitters, controlled powertransmission signals to produce a plurality of pockets of energy to atleast one power receiver communicatively coupled to at least one userdevice; and receiving, by at least one transmission manager of the atleast one the plurality of power transmitters, a selection indicatorindicative of signal strength or proximity of the at least one userdevice relative to the at least one of the plurality of powertransmitters; wherein the transmitting by the at least one of theplurality of power transmitters to the at least one power receiver iscontrolled by the at least one transmitter manager in accordance withthe selection indicator.

In a further embodiment, a system for providing simultaneouscommunication in a wireless power delivery network, comprises: aplurality of power transmitters communicatively coupled to at least onetransmitter manager; and at least one power receiver communicativelycoupled to at least one user device; wherein the at least onetransmitter manager receives from the at least one user device aselection indicator indicative of at least one of signal strength orproximity of the at least one user device relative to ones of theplurality of power transmitters; and wherein the transmission ofcontrolled power transmission signals to produce a plurality of pocketsof energy by ones of the plurality of power transmitters to the at leastone power receiver is controlled by the at least one transmitter managerin accordance with the selection indicator.

In another embodiment, a system for providing contemporaneouscommunication in a wireless power delivery network, comprises: aplurality of power transmitters communicatively coupled to at least onetransmitter manager; and a power receiver communicatively coupled to auser device, wherein at least two of the plurality of power transmittersare available to generate pocket-forming energy in three dimensionalspace at the power receiver to charge or power the user device; whereinthe at least one transmitter manager coordinates contemporaneouscommunication of the plurality of power transmitters with the powerreceiver via time division multiplexing (TDM) of such communication;wherein the at least one transmitter manager controls the transmissionof controlled power transmission signals to produce a plurality ofpockets of energy at the power receiver is in accordance with the timedivision multiplexing (TDM) of the contemporaneous communication.

In a further embodiment, a method for providing contemporaneouscommunication in a wireless power delivery network, comprises:transmitting, by at least one of a plurality of power transmitters,controlled power transmission signals to produce a plurality of pocketsof energy to at least one power receiver communicatively coupled to atleast one user device; and coordinating, by the at least one transmittermanager of the plurality of power transmitters, contemporaneouscommunication of the plurality of power transmitters with the powerreceiver via time division multiplexing (TDM) of such communication;wherein the at least one transmitter manager controls the transmissionof controlled power transmission signals to produce a plurality ofpockets of energy at the power receiver in accordance with the timedivision multiplexing (TDM) of the contemporaneous communication.

Additional features and advantages of an embodiment will be set forth inthe description which follows, and in part will be apparent from thedescription. The objectives and other advantages of the invention willbe realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out inthe exemplary embodiments in the written description and claims hereofas well as the appended drawings.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and areintended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure are described by wayof example with reference to the accompanying figures which areschematic and are not intended to be drawn to scale. Unless indicated asrepresenting the background art, the figures represent aspects of thedisclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system overview, according to an exemplaryembodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates steps of wireless power transmission, according to anexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates an architecture for wireless power transmission,according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates components of a system of wireless power transmissionusing pocket-forming procedures, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates steps of powering a plurality of receiver devices,according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6A illustrates waveforms for wireless power transmission withselective range, which may get unified in single waveform.

FIG. 6B illustrates waveforms for wireless power transmission withselective range, which may get unified in single waveform.

FIG. 7 illustrates wireless power transmission with selective range,where a plurality of pockets of energy may be generated along variousradii from transmitter.

FIG. 8 illustrates wireless power transmission with selective range,where a plurality of pockets of energy may be generated along variousradii from transmitter.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate a diagram of an architecture for wirelesslycharging client computing platform, according to an exemplaryembodiment.

FIG. 10A illustrates wireless power transmission using multiplepocket-forming, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 10B illustrates multiple adaptive pocket-forming, according to anexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 11 shows a wireless power system using a wireless power transmittermanager, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 12 illustrates a system architecture for smart registration ofwireless power receivers within a wireless power network, according toanother embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a method for smart registration of wirelesspower receivers within a wireless power network, according to a furtherembodiment.

FIG. 14 illustrates a transmitter communications transition, between onewireless power transmitter manager to another, in a wireless powertransmission system, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of transmitter communications transition, betweenone wireless power transmitter manager to another, in a wireless powertransmission system, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 16 is an exemplary embodiment of transmitter communicationstransition, between one wireless power transmitter manager to another,in a wireless power transmission system, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a method for managing communications within acluster of wireless power transmitters, and for managing wireless powertransmission of the cluster with a wireless power receiver, according toan embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of a wireless power receiver movingbetween several wireless power transmitters in a wireless powertransmission system, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 19 illustrates a system architecture for a wireless powertransmission system, and schematic diagram of communications of acluster of wireless power transmitters, according to another embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram of a wireless power receiver moving inproximity to the location of a cluster of wireless power transmitters ina wireless power transmission system, and a diagram of real timecommunications within the system, according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure is here described in detail with reference toembodiments illustrated in the drawings, which form a part here. Otherembodiments may be used and/or other changes may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Theillustrative embodiments described in the detailed description are notmeant to be limiting of the subject matter presented here. Furthermore,the various components and embodiments described herein may be combinedto form additional embodiments not expressly described, withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated inthe drawings, and specific language will be used here to describe thesame. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scopeof the invention is thereby intended. Alterations and furthermodifications of the inventive features illustrated here, and additionalapplications of the principles of the inventions as illustrated here,which would occur to one skilled in the relevant art and havingpossession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope ofthe invention.

I. Systems and Methods for Wireless Power Transmissions

A. Components System Embodiment

FIG. 1 shows a system 100 for wireless power transmission by formingpockets of energy 104. The system 100 may comprise transmitters 101,receivers 103, client devices 105, and pocket detectors 107.Transmitters 101 may transmit power transmission signals comprisingpower transmission waves, which may be captured by receivers 103. Thereceivers 103 may comprise antennas, antenna elements, and othercircuitry (detailed later), which may convert the captured waves into auseable source of electrical energy on behalf of client devices 105associated with the receivers 103. In some embodiments, transmitters 101may transmit power transmission signals, made up of power transmissionwaves, in one or more trajectories by manipulating the phase, gain,and/or other waveform features of the power transmission waves, and/orby selecting different transmit antennas. In such embodiments, thetransmitters 101 may manipulate the trajectories of the powertransmission signals so that the underlying power transmission wavesconverge at a location in space, resulting in certain forms ofinterference. One type of interference generated at the convergence ofthe power transmission waves, “constructive interference,” may be afield of energy caused by the convergence of the power transmissionwaves such that they add together and strengthen the energy concentratedat that location—in contrast to adding together in a way to subtractfrom each other and diminish the energy concentrated at that location,which is called “destructive interference”. The accumulation ofsufficient energy at the constructive interference may establish a fieldof energy, or “pocket of energy” 104, which may be harvested by theantennas of a receiver 103, provided the antennas are configured tooperate on the frequency of the power transmission signals. Accordingly,the power transmission waves establish pockets of energy 104 at thelocation in space where the receivers 103 may receive, harvest, andconvert the power transmission waves into useable electrical energy,which may power or charge associated electrical client devices 105.Detectors 107 may be devices comprising a receiver 103 that are capableof producing a notification or alert in response to receiving powertransmission signals. As an example, a user searching for the optimalplacement of a receiver 103 to charge the user's client device 105 mayuse a detector 107 that comprises an LED light 108, which may brightenwhen the detector 107 captures the power transmission signals from asingle beam or a pocket of energy 104.

1. Transmitters

The transmitter 101 may transmit or broadcast power transmission signalsto a receiver 103 associated with a device 105. Although several of theembodiments mentioned below describe the power transmission signals asradio frequency (RF) waves, it should be appreciated that the powertransmission may be physical media that is capable of being propagatedthrough space, and that is capable of being converted into a source ofelectrical energy 103. The transmitter 101 may transmit the powertransmission signals as a single beam directed at the receivers 103. Insome cases, one or more transmitters 101 may transmit a plurality ofpower transmission signals that are propagated in a multiple directionsand may deflect off of physical obstructions (e.g., walls). Theplurality of power transmission signals may converge at a location in athree-dimensional space, forming a pocket of energy 104. Receivers 103within the boundaries of an energy pocket 104 may capture and covert thepower transmission signals into a useable source of energy. Thetransmitter 101 may control pocket-forming based on phase and/orrelative amplitude adjustments of power transmission signals, to formconstructive interference patterns.

Although the exemplary embodiment recites the use of RF wavetransmission techniques, the wireless charging techniques should not belimited to RF wave transmission techniques. Rather, it should beappreciated that possible wireless charging techniques may include anynumber of alternative or additional techniques for transmitting energyto a receiver converting the transmitted energy to electrical power.Non-limiting exemplary transmission techniques for energy that can beconverted by a receiving device into electrical power may include:ultrasound, microwave, resonant and inductive magnetic fields, laserlight, infrared, or other forms of electromagnetic energy. In the caseof ultrasound, for example, one or more transducer elements may bedisposed so as to form a transducer array that transmits ultrasoundwaves toward a receiving device that receives the ultrasound waves andconverts them to electrical power. In the case of resonant or inductivemagnetic fields, magnetic fields are created in a transmitter coil andconverted by a receiver coil into electrical power. In addition,although the exemplary transmitter 101 is shown as a single unitcomprising potentially multiple transmitters (transmit array), both forRF transmission of power and for other power transmission methodsmentioned in this paragraph, the transmit arrays can comprise multipletransmitters that are physically spread around a room rather than beingin a compact regular structure. The transmitter includes an antennaarray where the antennas are used for sending the power transmissionsignal. Each antenna sends power transmission waves where thetransmitter applies a different phase and amplitude to the signaltransmitted from different antennas. Similar to the formation of pocketsof energy, the transmitter can form a phased array of delayed versionsof the signal to be transmitted, then applies different amplitudes tothe delayed versions of the signal, and then sends the signals fromappropriate antennas. For a sinusoidal waveform, such as an RF signal,ultrasound, microwave, or others, delaying the signal is similar toapplying a phase shift to the signal.

2. Pockets of Energy

A pocket of energy 104 may be formed at locations of constructiveinterference patterns of power transmission signals transmitted by thetransmitter 101. The pockets of energy 104 may manifest as athree-dimensional field where energy may be harvested by receivers 103located within the pocket of energy 104. The pocket of energy 104produced by transmitters 101 during pocket-forming may be harvested by areceiver 103, converted to an electrical charge, and then provided toelectronic client device 105 associated with the receiver 103 (e.g.,laptop computer, smartphone, rechargeable battery). In some embodiments,there may be multiple transmitters 101 and/or multiple receivers 103powering various client devices 105. In some embodiments, adaptivepocket-forming may adjust transmission of the power transmission signalsin order to regulate power levels and/or identify movement of thedevices 105.

3. Receivers

A receiver 103 may be used for powering or charging an associated clientdevice 105, which may be an electrical device coupled to or integratedwith the receiver 103. The receiver 103 may receive power transmissionwaves from one or more power transmission signals originating from oneor more transmitters 101. The receiver 103 may receive the powertransmission signals as a single beam produced by the transmitter 101,or the receiver 103 may harvest power transmission waves from a pocketof energy 104, which may be a three-dimensional field in space resultingfrom the convergence of a plurality of power transmission waves producedby one or more transmitters 101. The receiver 103 may comprise an arrayof antennas 112 configured to receive power transmission waves from apower transmission signal and harvest the energy from the powertransmission signals of the single beam or pocket of energy 104. Thereceiver 103 may comprise circuitry that then converts the energy of thepower transmission signals (e.g., the radio frequency electromagneticradiation) to electrical energy. A rectifier of the receiver 103 maytranslate the electrical energy from AC to DC. Other types ofconditioning may be applied, as well. For example, a voltageconditioning circuit may increase or decrease the voltage of theelectrical energy as required by the client device 105. An electricalrelay may then convey the electrical energy from the receiver 103 to theclient device 105.

In some embodiments, the receiver 103 may comprise a communicationscomponent that transmits control signals to the transmitter 101 in orderto exchange data in real-time or near real-time. The control signals maycontain status information about the client device 105, the receiver103, or the power transmission signals. Status information may include,for example, present location information of the device 105, amount ofcharge received, amount of charged used, and user account information,among other types of information. Further, in some applications, thereceiver 103 including the rectifier that it contains may be integratedinto the client device 105. For practical purposes, the receiver 103,wire 111, and client device 105 may be a single unit contained in asingle packaging.

4. Control Signals

In some embodiments, control signals may serve as data inputs used bythe various antenna elements responsible for controlling production ofpower transmission signals and/or pocket-forming. Control signals may beproduced by the receiver 103 or the transmitter 101 using an externalpower supply (not shown) and a local oscillator chip (not shown), whichin some cases may include using a piezoelectric material. Controlsignals may be RF waves or any other communication medium or protocolcapable of communicating data between processors, such as Bluetooth®,RFID, infrared, near-field communication (NFC). As detailed later,control signals may be used to convey information between thetransmitter 101 and the receiver 103 used to adjust the powertransmission signals, as well as contain information related to status,efficiency, user data, power consumption, billing, geo-location, andother types of information.

5. Detectors

A detector 107 may comprise hardware similar to receivers 103, which mayallow the detector 107 to receive power transmission signals originatingfrom one or more transmitters 101. The detector 107 may be used by usersto identify the location of pockets of energy 104, so that users maydetermine the preferable placement of a receiver 103. In someembodiments, the detector 107 may comprise an indicator light 108 thatindicates when the detector is placed within the pocket of energy 104.As an example, in FIG. 1, detectors 107 a, 107 b are located within thepocket of energy 104 generated by the transmitter 101, which may triggerthe detectors 107 a, 107 b to turn on their respective indicator lights108 a, 108 b, because the detectors 107 a, 107 b are receiving powertransmission signals of the pocket of energy 104; whereas, the indicatorlight 108 c of a third detector 107 c located outside of the pockets ofenergy 104, is turned off, because the third detector 107 c is notreceiving the power transmission signals from the transmitter 101. Itshould be appreciated that the functions of a detector, such as theindicator light, may be integrated into a receiver or into a clientdevice in alternative embodiments as well.

6. Client Device

A client device 105 may be any electrical device that requirescontinuous electrical energy or that requires power from a battery.Non-limiting examples of client devices 105 may include laptops, mobilephones, smartphones, tablets, music players, toys, batteries,flashlights, lamps, electronic watches, cameras, gaming consoles,appliances, GPS devices, and wearable devices or so-called “wearables”(e.g., fitness bracelets, pedometers, smartwatch), among other types ofelectrical devices.

In some embodiments, the client device 105 a may be a physical devicedistinct from the receiver 103 a associated with the client device 105a. In such embodiments, the client device 105 a may be connected to thereceiver over a wire 111 that conveys converted electrical energy fromthe receiver 103 a to the client device 105 a. In some cases, othertypes of data may be transported over the wire 111, such as powerconsumption status, power usage metrics, device identifiers, and othertypes of data.

In some embodiments, the client device 105 b may be permanentlyintegrated or detachably coupled to the receiver 103 b, thereby forminga single integrated product or unit. As an example, the client device105 b may be placed into a sleeve that has embedded receivers 103 b andthat may detachably couple to the device's 105 b power supply input,which may be typically used to charge the device's 105 b battery. Inthis example, the device 105 b may be decoupled from the receiver, butmay remain in the sleeve regardless of whether or not the device 105 brequires an electrical charge or is being used. In another example, inlieu of having a battery that holds a charge for the device 105 b, thedevice 105 b may comprise an integrated receiver 105 b, which may bepermanently integrated into the device 105 b so as to form an indistinctproduct, device, or unit. In this example, the device 105 b may relyalmost entirely on the integrated receiver 103 b to produce electricalenergy by harvesting pockets of energy 104. It should be clear tosomeone skilled in the art that the connection between the receiver 103and the client device 105 may be a wire 111 or may be an electricalconnection on a circuit board or an integrated circuit, or even awireless connection, such as inductive or magnetic.

B. Method of Wireless Power Transmission

FIG. 2 shows steps of wireless power transmission, according to anexemplary method 200 embodiment.

In a first step 201, a transmitter (TX) establishes a connection orotherwise associates with a receiver (RX). That is, in some embodiments,transmitters and receivers may communicate control data over using awireless communication protocol capable of transmitting informationbetween two processors of electrical devices (e.g., Bluetooth®,Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Wi-Fi, NFC, ZigBee®). For example, inembodiments implementing Bluetooth® or Bluetooth® variants, thetransmitter may scan for receiver's broadcasting advertisement signalsor a receiver may transmit an advertisement signal to the transmitter.The advertisement signal may announce the receiver's presence to thetransmitter, and may trigger an association between the transmitter andthe receiver. As described herein, in some embodiments, theadvertisement signal may communicate information that may be used byvarious devices (e.g., transmitters, client devices, sever computers,other receivers) to execute and manage pocket-forming procedures.Information contained within the advertisement signal may include adevice identifier (e.g., MAC address, IP address, UUID), the voltage ofelectrical energy received, client device power consumption, and othertypes of data related to power transmission. The transmitter may use theadvertisement signal transmitted to identify the receiver and, in somecases, locate the receiver in a two-dimensional space or in athree-dimensional space. Once the transmitter identifies the receiver,the transmitter may establish the connection associated in thetransmitter with the receiver, allowing the transmitter and receiver tocommunicate control signals over a second channel.

In a next step 203, the transmitter may use the advertisement signal todetermine a set of power transmission signal features for transmittingthe power transmission signals, to then establish the pockets of energy.Non-limiting examples of features of power transmission signals mayinclude phase, gain, amplitude, magnitude, and direction among others.The transmitter may use information contained in the receiver'sadvertisement signal, or in subsequent control signals received from thereceiver, to determine how to produce and transmit the powertransmission signals so that the receiver may receive the powertransmission signals. In some cases, the transmitter may transmit powertransmission signals in a way that establishes a pocket of energy, fromwhich the receiver may harvest electrical energy. In some embodiments,the transmitter may comprise a processor executing software modulescapable of automatically identifying the power transmission signalfeatures needed to establish a pocket of energy based on informationreceived from the receiver, such as the voltage of the electrical energyharvested by the receiver from the power transmission signals. It shouldbe appreciated that in some embodiments, the functions of the processorand/or the software modules may be implemented in an ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit (ASIC).

Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the advertisementsignal or subsequent signal transmitted by the receiver over a secondcommunications channel may indicate one or more power transmissionsignals features, which the transmitter may then use to produce andtransmit power transmission signals to establish a pocket of energy. Forexample, in some cases the transmitter may automatically identify thephase and gain necessary for transmitting the power transmission signalsbased on the location of the device and the type of device or receiver;and, in some cases, the receiver may inform the transmitter the phaseand gain for effectively transmitting the power transmission signals.

In a next step 205, after the transmitter determines the appropriatefeatures to use when transmitting the power transmission signals, thetransmitter may begin transmitting power transmission signals, over aseparate channel from the control signals. Power transmission signalsmay be transmitted to establish a pocket of energy. The transmitter'santenna elements may transmit the power transmission signals such thatthe power transmission signals converge in a two-dimensional orthree-dimensional space around the receiver. The resulting field aroundthe receiver forms a pocket of energy from which the receiver mayharvest electrical energy. One antenna element may be used to transmitpower transmission signals to establish two-dimensional energytransmissions; and in some cases, a second or additional antenna elementmay be used to transmit power transmission signals in order to establisha three-dimensional pocket of energy. In some cases, a plurality ofantenna elements may be used to transmit power transmission signals inorder to establish the pocket of energy. Moreover, in some cases, theplurality of antennas may include all of the antennas in thetransmitter; and, in some cases, the plurality of antennas may include anumber of the antennas in the transmitter, but fewer than all of theantennas of the transmitter.

As previously mentioned, the transmitter may produce and transmit powertransmission signals, according to a determined set of powertransmission signal features, which may be produced and transmittedusing an external power source and a local oscillator chip comprising apiezoelectric material. The transmitter may comprise an RFIC thatcontrols production and transmission of the power transmission signalsbased on information related to power transmission and pocket-formingreceived from the receiver. This control data may be communicated over adifferent channel from the power transmission signals, using wirelesscommunications protocols, such as BLE, NFC, or ZigBee®. The RFIC of thetransmitter may automatically adjust the phase and/or relativemagnitudes of the power transmission signals as needed. Pocket-formingis accomplished by the transmitter transmitting the power transmissionsignals in a manner that forms constructive interference patterns.

Antenna elements of the transmitter may use concepts of waveinterference to determine certain power transmission signals features(e.g., direction of transmission, phase of power transmission signalwave), when transmitting the power transmission signals duringpocket-forming. The antenna elements may also use concepts ofconstructive interference to generate a pocket of energy, but may alsoutilize concepts of deconstructive interference to generate atransmission null in a particular physical location.

In some embodiments, the transmitter may provide power to a plurality ofreceivers using pocket-forming, which may require the transmitter toexecute a procedure for multiple pocket-forming. A transmittercomprising a plurality of antenna elements may accomplish multiplepocket-forming by automatically computing the phase and gain of powertransmission signal waves, for each antenna element of the transmittertasked with transmitting power transmission signals the respectivereceivers. The transmitter may compute the phase and gainsindependently, because multiple wave paths for each power transmissionsignal may be generated by the transmitter's antenna elements totransmit the power transmission signals to the respective antennaelements of the receiver.

As an example of the computation of phase/gain adjustments for twoantenna elements of the transmitter transmitting two signals, say X andY where Y is 180 degree phase shifted version of X(Y=−X). At a physicallocation where the cumulative received waveform is X−Y, a receiverreceives X−Y=X+X=2X, whereas at a physical location where the cumulativereceived waveform is X+Y, a receiver receives X+Y=X−X=0.

In a next step 207, the receiver may harvest or otherwise receiveelectrical energy from power transmission signals of a single beam or apocket of energy. The receiver may comprise a rectifier and AC/DCconverter, which may convert the electrical energy from AC current to DCcurrent, and a rectifier of the receiver may then rectify the electricalenergy, resulting in useable electrical energy for a client deviceassociated with the receiver, such as a laptop computer, smartphone,battery, toy, or other electrical device. The receiver may utilize thepocket of energy produced by the transmitter during pocket-forming tocharge or otherwise power the electronic device.

In next step 209, the receiver may generate control data containinginformation indicating the effectiveness of the single beam or energypockets providing the receiver power transmission signals. The receivermay then transmit control signals containing the control data, to thetransmitter. The control signals may be transmitted intermittently,depending on whether the transmitter and receiver are communicatingsynchronously (i.e., the transmitter is expecting to receive controldata from the receiver). Additionally, the transmitter may continuouslytransmit the power transmission signals to the receiver, irrespective ofwhether the transmitter and receiver are communicating control signals.The control data may contain information related to transmitting powertransmission signals and/or establishing effective pockets of energy.Some of the information in the control data may inform the transmitterhow to effectively produce and transmit, and in some cases adjust, thefeatures of the power transmission signals. Control signals may betransmitted and received over a second channel, independent from thepower transmission signals, using a wireless protocol capable oftransmitting control data related to power transmission signals and/orpocket-forming, such as BLE, NFC, Wi-Fi, or the like.

As mentioned, the control data may contain information indicating theeffectiveness of the power transmission signals of the single beam orestablishing the pocket of energy. The control data may be generated bya processor of the receiver monitoring various aspects of receiverand/or the client device associated with the receiver. The control datamay be based on various types of information, such as the voltage ofelectrical energy received from the power transmission signals, thequality of the power transmission signals reception, the quality of thebattery charge or quality of the power reception, and location or motionof the receiver, among other types of information useful for adjustingthe power transmission signals and/or pocket-forming.

In some embodiments, a receiver may determine the amount of power beingreceived from power transmission signals transmitted from thetransmitter and may then indicate that the transmitter should “split” orsegment the power transmission signals into less-powerful powertransmission signals. The less-powerful power transmission signals maybe bounced off objects or walls nearby the device, thereby reducing theamount of power being transmitted directly from the transmitter to thereceiver.

In a next step 211, the transmitter may calibrate the antennastransmitting the power transmission signals, so that the antennastransmit power transmission signals having a more effective set offeature (e.g., direction, phase, gain, amplitude). In some embodiments,a processor of the transmitter may automatically determine moreeffective features for producing and transmitting the power transmissionsignals based on a control signal received from the receiver. Thecontrol signal may contain control data, and may be transmitted by thereceiver using any number of wireless communication protocols (e.g.,BLE, Wi-Fi, ZigBee®). The control data may contain information expresslyindicating the more effective features for the power transmission waves;or the transmitter may automatically determine the more effectivefeatures based on the waveform features of the control signal (e.g.,shape, frequency, amplitude). The transmitter may then automaticallyreconfigure the antennas to transmit recalibrated power transmissionsignals according to the newly determined more-effective features. Forexample, the processor of the transmitter may adjust gain and/or phaseof the power transmission signals, among other features of powertransmission feature, to adjust for a change in location of thereceiver, after a user moved the receiver outside of thethree-dimensional space where the pocket of energy is established.

C. System Architecture of Power Transmission System

FIG. 3 illustrates an architecture 300 for wireless power transmissionusing pocket-forming, according to an exemplary embodiment.“Pocket-forming” may refer to generating two or more power transmissionwaves 342 that converge at a location in three-dimensional space,resulting in constructive interference patterns at that location. Atransmitter 302 may transmit and/or broadcast controlled powertransmission waves 342 (e.g., microwaves, radio waves, ultrasound waves)that may converge in three-dimensional space. These power transmissionwaves 342 may be controlled through phase and/or relative amplitudeadjustments to form constructive interference patterns (pocket-forming)in locations where a pocket of energy is intended. It should beunderstood also that the transmitter can use the same principles tocreate destructive interference in a location thereby creating atransmission null—a location where transmitted power transmission wavescancel each other out substantially and no significant energy can becollected by a receiver. In typical use cases the aiming of a powertransmission signal at the location of the receiver is the objective;and in other cases it may be desirable to specifically avoid powertransmission to a particular location; and in other cases it may bedesirable to aim power transmission signal at a location whilespecifically avoiding transmission to a second location at the sametime. The transmitter takes the use case into account when calibratingantennas for power transmission.

Antenna elements 306 of the transmitter 302 may operate in single array,pair array, quad array, or any other suitable arrangement that may bedesigned in accordance with the desired application. Pockets of energymay be formed at constructive interference patterns where the powertransmission waves 342 accumulate to form a three-dimensional field ofenergy, around which one or more corresponding transmission null in aparticular physical location may be generated by destructiveinterference patterns. Transmission null in a particular physicallocation-may refer to areas or regions of space where pockets of energydo not form because of destructive interference patterns of powertransmission waves 342.

A receiver 320 may then utilize power transmission waves 342 emitted bythe transmitter 302 to establish a pocket of energy, for charging orpowering an electronic device 313, thus effectively providing wirelesspower transmission. Pockets of energy may refer to areas or regions ofspace where energy or power may accumulate in the form of constructiveinterference patterns of power transmission waves 342. In othersituations there can be multiple transmitters 302 and/or multiplereceivers 320 for powering various electronic equipment for examplesmartphones, tablets, music players, toys and others at the same time.In other embodiments, adaptive pocket-forming may be used to regulatepower on electronic devices. Adaptive pocket-forming may refer todynamically adjusting pocket-forming to regulate power on one or moretargeted receivers.

Receiver 320 may communicate with transmitter 302 by generating a shortsignal through antenna elements 324 in order to indicate its positionwith respect to the transmitter 302. In some embodiments, receiver 320may additionally utilize a network interface card (not shown) or similarcomputer networking component to communicate through a network 340 withother devices or components of the system 300, such as a cloud computingservice that manages several collections of transmitters 302. Thereceiver 320 may comprise circuitry 308 for converting the powertransmission signals 342 captured by the antenna elements 324, intoelectrical energy that may be provided to and electric device 313 and/ora battery of the device 315. In some embodiments, the circuitry mayprovide electrical energy to a battery of receiver 335, which may storeenergy without the electrical device 313 being communicatively coupledto the receiver 320.

Communications components 324 may enable receiver 320 to communicatewith the transmitter 302 by transmitting control signals 345 over awireless protocol. The wireless protocol can be a proprietary protocolor use a conventional wireless protocol, such as Bluetooth®, BLE, Wi-Fi,NFC, ZigBee, and the like. Communications component 324 may then be usedto transfer information, such as an identifier for the electronic device313, as well as battery level information, geographic location data, orother information that may be of use for transmitter 302 in determiningwhen to send power to receiver 320, as well as the location to deliverpower transmission waves 342 creating pockets of energy. In otherembodiments, adaptive pocket-forming may be used to regulate powerprovided to electronic devices 313. In such embodiments, thecommunications components 324 of the receiver may transmit voltage dataindicating the amount of power received at the receiver 320, and/or theamount of voltage provided to an electronic device 313 b or battery 315.

Once transmitter 302 identifies and locates receiver 320, a channel orpath for the control signals 345 can be established, through which thetransmitter 302 may know the gain and phases of the control signals 345coming from receiver 320. Antenna elements 306 of the transmitter 302may start to transmit or broadcast controlled power transmission waves342 (e.g., radio frequency waves, ultrasound waves), which may convergein three-dimensional space by using at least two antenna elements 306 tomanipulate the power transmission waves 342 emitted from the respectiveantenna element 306. These power transmission waves 342 may be producedby using an external power source and a local oscillator chip using asuitable piezoelectric material. The power transmission waves 342 may becontrolled by transmitter circuitry 301, which may include a proprietarychip for adjusting phase and/or relative magnitudes of powertransmission waves 342. The phase, gain, amplitude, and other waveformfeatures of the power transmission waves 342 may serve as inputs forantenna element 306 to form constructive and destructive interferencepatterns (pocket-forming). In some implementations, a micro-controller310 or other circuit of the transmitter 302 may produce a powertransmission signal, which comprises power transmission waves 342, andthat may be may split into multiple outputs by transmitter circuitry301, depending on the number of antenna elements 306 connected to thetransmitter circuitry 301. For example, if four antenna elements 306 a-dare connected to one transmitter circuit 301 a, the power transmissionsignal will be split into four different outputs each output going to anantenna element 306 to be transmitted as power transmission waves 342originating from the respective antenna elements 306.

Pocket-forming may take advantage of interference to change thedirectionality of the antenna element 306 where constructiveinterference generates a pocket of energy and destructive interferencegenerates a transmission null. Receiver 320 may then utilize pocket ofenergy produced by pocket-forming for charging or powering an electronicdevice and therefore effectively providing wireless power transmission.

Multiple pocket-forming may be achieved by computing the phase and gainfrom each antenna 306 of transmitter 302 to each receiver 320.

D. Components of Systems Forming Pockets of Energy

FIG. 4 shows components of an exemplary system 400 of wireless powertransmission using pocket-forming procedures. The system 400 maycomprise one or more transmitters 402, one or more receivers 420, andone or more client devices 446.

1. Transmitters

Transmitters 402 may be any device capable of broadcasting wirelesspower transmission signals, which may be RF waves 442, for wirelesspower transmission, as described herein. Transmitters 402 may beresponsible for performing tasks related to transmitting powertransmission signals, which may include pocket-forming, adaptivepocket-forming, and multiple pocket-forming. In some implementations,transmitters 402 may transmit wireless power transmissions to receivers420 in the form of RF waves, which may include any radio signal havingany frequency or wavelength. A transmitter 402 may include one or moreantenna elements 406, one or more RFICs 408, one or moremicrocontrollers 410, one or more communication components 412, a powersource 414, and a housing that may allocate all the requested componentsfor the transmitter 402. The various components of transmitters 402 maycomprise, and/or may be manufactured using, meta-materials,micro-printing of circuits, nano-materials, and the like.

In the exemplary system 400, the transmitter 402 may transmit orotherwise broadcast controlled RF waves 442 that converge at a locationin three-dimensional space, thereby forming a pocket of energy 444.These RF waves may be controlled through phase and/or relative amplitudeadjustments to form constructive or destructive interference patterns(i.e., pocket-forming). Pockets of energy 444 may be fields formed atconstructive interference patterns and may be three-dimensional inshape; whereas transmission null in a particular physical location maybe generated at destructive interference patterns. Receivers 420 mayharvest electrical energy from the pockets of energy 444 produced bypocket-forming for charging or powering an electronic client device 446(e.g., a laptop computer, a cell phone). In some embodiments, the system400 may comprise multiple transmitters 402 and/or multiple receivers420, for powering various electronic equipment. Non-limiting examples ofclient devices 446 may include: smartphones, tablets, music players,toys and others at the same time. In some embodiments, adaptivepocket-forming may be used to regulate power on electronic devices.

2. Receivers

Receivers 420 may include a housing where at least one antenna element424, one rectifier 426, one power converter 428, and a communicationscomponent 430 may be included.

Housing of the receiver 420 can be made of any material capable offacilitating signal or wave transmission and/or reception, for exampleplastic or hard rubber. Housing may be an external hardware that may beadded to different electronic equipment, for example in the form ofcases, or can be embedded within electronic equipment as well.

3. Antenna Elements

Antenna elements 424 of the receiver 420 may comprise any type ofantenna capable of transmitting and/or receiving signals in frequencybands used by the transmitter 402A. Antenna elements 424 may includevertical or horizontal polarization, right hand or left handpolarization, elliptical polarization, or other polarizations, as wellas any number of polarization combinations. Using multiple polarizationscan be beneficial in devices where there may not be a preferredorientation during usage or whose orientation may vary continuouslythrough time, for example a smartphone or portable gaming system. Fordevices having a well-defined expected orientation (e.g., a two-handedvideo game controller), there might be a preferred polarization forantennas, which may dictate a ratio for the number of antennas of agiven polarization. Types of antennas in antenna elements 424 of thereceiver 420, may include patch antennas, which may have heights fromabout ⅛ inch to about 6 inches and widths from about ⅛ inch to about 6inches. Patch antennas may preferably have polarization that dependsupon connectivity, i.e., the polarization may vary depending on fromwhich side the patch is fed. In some embodiments, the type of antennamay be any type of antenna, such as patch antennas, capable ofdynamically varying the antenna polarization to optimize wireless powertransmission.

4. Rectifier

Rectifiers 426 of the receiver 420 may include diodes, resistors,inductors, and/or capacitors to rectify alternating current (AC) voltagegenerated by antenna elements 424 to direct current (DC) voltage.Rectifiers 426 may be placed as close as is technically possible toantenna elements A24B to minimize losses in electrical energy gatheredfrom power transmission signals. After rectifying AC voltage, theresulting DC voltage may be regulated using power converters 428. Powerconverters 428 can be a DC-to-DC converter that may help provide aconstant voltage output, regardless of input, to an electronic device,or as in this exemplary system 400, to a battery. Typical voltageoutputs can be from about 5 volts to about 10 volts. In someembodiments, power converter may include electronic switched mode DC-DCconverters, which can provide high efficiency. In such embodiments, thereceiver 420 may comprise a capacitor (not shown) that is situated toreceive the electrical energy before power converters 428. The capacitormay ensure sufficient current is provided to an electronic switchingdevice (e.g., switch mode DC-DC converter), so it may operateeffectively. When charging an electronic device, for example a phone orlaptop computer, initial high-currents that can exceed the minimumvoltage needed to activate operation of an electronic switched modeDC-DC converter, may be required. In such a case, a capacitor (notshown) may be added at the output of receivers 420 to provide the extraenergy required. Afterwards, lower power can be provided. For example,1/80 of the total initial power that may be used while having the phoneor laptop still build-up charge.

5. Communications Component

A communications component 430 of a receiver 420 may communicate withone or more other devices of the system 400, such as other receivers420, client devices, and/or transmitters 402. Different antenna,rectifier or power converter arrangements are possible for a receiver aswill be explained in following embodiments.

E. Methods of Pocket Forming for a Plurality of Devices

FIG. 5 shows steps of powering a plurality of receiver devices,according to an exemplary embodiment.

In a first step 501, a transmitter (TX) establishes a connection orotherwise associates with a receiver (RX). That is, in some embodiments,transmitters and receivers may communicate control data over using awireless communication protocol capable of transmitting informationbetween two processors of electrical devices (e.g., Bluetooth®, BLE,Wi-Fi, NFC, ZigBee®). For example, in embodiments implement Bluetooth®or Bluetooth® variants, the transmitter may scan for receiver'sbroadcasting advertisement signals or a receiver may transmit anadvertisement signal to the transmitter. The advertisement signal mayannounce the receiver's presence to the transmitter, and may trigger anassociation between the transmitter and the receiver. As describedlater, in some embodiments, the advertisement signal may communicateinformation that may be used by various devices (e.g., transmitters,client devices, sever computers, other receivers) to execute and managepocket-forming procedures. Information contained within theadvertisement signal may include a device identifier (e.g., MAC address,IP address, UUID), the voltage of electrical energy received, clientdevice power consumption, and other types of data related to powertransmission waves. The transmitter may use the advertisement signaltransmitted to identify the receiver and, in some cases, locate thereceiver in a two-dimensional space or in a three-dimensional space.Once the transmitter identifies the receiver, the transmitter mayestablish the connection associated in the transmitter with thereceiver, allowing the transmitter and receiver to communicate controlsignals over a second channel.

As an example, when a receiver comprising a Bluetooth® processor ispowered-up or is brought within a detection range of the transmitter,the Bluetooth processor may begin advertising the receiver according toBluetooth® standards. The transmitter may recognize the advertisementand begin establishing connection for communicating control signals andpower transmission signals. In some embodiments, the advertisementsignal may contain unique identifiers so that the transmitter maydistinguish that advertisement and ultimately that receiver from all theother Bluetooth® devices nearby within range.

In a next step 503, when the transmitter detects the advertisementsignal, the transmitter may automatically form a communicationconnection with that receiver, which may allow the transmitter andreceiver to communicate control signals and power transmission signals.The transmitter may then command that receiver to begin transmittingreal-time sample data or control data. The transmitter may also begintransmitting power transmission signals from antennas of thetransmitter's antenna array.

In a next step 505, the receiver may then measure the voltage, amongother metrics related to effectiveness of the power transmissionsignals, based on the electrical energy received by the receiver'santennas. The receiver may generate control data containing the measuredinformation, and then transmit control signals containing the controldata to the transmitter. For example, the receiver may sample thevoltage measurements of received electrical energy, for example, at arate of 100 times per second. The receiver may transmit the voltagesample measurement back to the transmitter, 100 times a second, in theform of control signals.

In a next step 507, the transmitter may execute one or more softwaremodules monitoring the metrics, such as voltage measurements, receivedfrom the receiver. Algorithms may vary production and transmission ofpower transmission signals by the transmitter's antennas, to maximizethe effectiveness of the pockets of energy around the receiver. Forexample, the transmitter may adjust the phase at which the transmitter'santenna transmit the power transmission signals, until that powerreceived by the receiver indicates an effectively established pocketenergy around the receiver. When an optimal configuration for theantennas is identified, memory of the transmitter may store theconfigurations to keep the transmitter broadcasting at that highestlevel.

In a next step 509, algorithms of the transmitter may determine when itis necessary to adjust the power transmission signals and may also varythe configuration of the transmit antennas, in response to determiningsuch adjustments are necessary. For example, the transmitter maydetermine the power received at a receiver is less than maximal, basedon the data received from the receiver. The transmitter may thenautomatically adjust the phase of the power transmission signals, butmay also simultaneously continues to receive and monitor the voltagebeing reported back from receiver.

In a next step 511, after a determined period of time for communicatingwith a particular receiver, the transmitter may scan and/orautomatically detect advertisements from other receivers that may be inrange of the transmitter. The transmitters may establish a connection tothe second receiver responsive to Bluetooth® advertisements from asecond receiver.

In a next step 513, after establishing a second communication connectionwith the second receiver, the transmitter may proceed to adjust one ormore antennas in the transmitter's antenna array. In some embodiments,the transmitter may identify a subset of antennas to service the secondreceiver, thereby parsing the array into subsets of arrays that areassociated with a receiver. In some embodiments, the entire antennaarray may service a first receiver for a given period of time, and thenthe entire array may service the second receiver for that period oftime.

Manual or automated processes performed by the transmitter may select asubset of arrays to service the second receiver. In this example, thetransmitter's array may be split in half, forming two subsets. As aresult, half of the antennas may be configured to transmit powertransmission signals to the first receiver, and half of the antennas maybe configured for the second receiver. In the current step 513, thetransmitter may apply similar techniques discussed above to configure oroptimize the subset of antennas for the second receiver. While selectinga subset of an array for transmitting power transmission signals, thetransmitter and second receiver may be communicating control data. As aresult, by the time that the transmitter alternates back tocommunicating with the first receiver and/or scan for new receivers, thetransmitter has already received a sufficient amount of sample data toadjust the phases of the waves transmitted by second subset of thetransmitter's antenna array, to transmit power transmission waves to thesecond receiver effectively.

In a next step 515, after adjusting the second subset to transmit powertransmission signals to the second receiver, the transmitter mayalternate back to communicating control data with the first receiver, orscanning for additional receivers. The transmitter may reconfigure theantennas of the first subset, and then alternate between the first andsecond receivers at a predetermined interval.

In a next step 517, the transmitter may continue to alternate betweenreceivers and scanning for new receivers, at a predetermined interval.As each new receiver is detected, the transmitter may establish aconnection and begin transmitting power transmission signals,accordingly.

In one exemplary embodiment, the receiver may be electrically connectedto a device like a smart phone. The transmitter's processor would scanfor any Bluetooth devices. The receiver may begin advertising that it'sa Bluetooth device through the Bluetooth chip. Inside the advertisement,there may be unique identifiers so that the transmitter, when it scannedthat advertisement, could distinguish that advertisement and ultimatelythat receiver from all the other Bluetooth devices nearby within range.When the transmitter detects that advertisement and notices it is areceiver, then the transmitter may immediately form a communicationconnection with that receiver and command that receiver to begin sendingreal time sample data.

The receiver would then measure the voltage at its receiving antennas,send that voltage sample measurement back to the transmitter (e.g., 100times a second). The transmitter may start to vary the configuration ofthe transmit antennas by adjusting the phase. As the transmitter adjuststhe phase, the transmitter monitors the voltage being sent back from thereceiver. In some implementations, the higher the voltage, the moreenergy may be in the pocket. The antenna phases may be altered until thevoltage is at the highest level and there is a maximum pocket of energyaround the receiver. The transmitter may keep the antennas at theparticular phase so the voltage is at the highest level.

The transmitter may vary each individual antenna, one at a time. Forexample, if there are 32 antennas in the transmitter, and each antennahas 8 phases, the transmitter may begin with the first antenna and wouldstep the first antenna through all 8 phases. The receiver may then sendback the power level for each of the 8 phases of the first antenna. Thetransmitter may then store the highest phase for the first antenna. Thetransmitter may repeat this process for the second antenna, and step itthrough 8 phases. The receiver may again send back the power levels fromeach phase, and the transmitter may store the highest level. Next thetransmitter may repeat the process for the third antenna and continue torepeat the process until all 32 antennas have stepped through the 8phases. At the end of the process, the transmitter may transmit themaximum voltage in the most efficient manner to the receiver.

In another exemplary embodiment, the transmitter may detect a secondreceiver's advertisement and form a communication connection with thesecond receiver. When the transmitter forms the communication with thesecond receiver, the transmitter may aim the original 32 antennastowards the second receiver and repeat the phase process for each of the32 antennas aimed at the second receiver. Once the process is completed,the second receiver may getting as much power as possible from thetransmitter. The transmitter may communicate with the second receiverfor a second, and then alternate back to the first receiver for apredetermined period of time (e.g., a second), and the transmitter maycontinue to alternate back and forth between the first receiver and thesecond receiver at the predetermined time intervals.

In yet another implementation, the transmitter may detect a secondreceiver's advertisement and form a communication connection with thesecond receiver. First, the transmitter may communicate with the firstreceiver and re-assign half of the exemplary 32 the antennas aimed atthe first receiver, dedicating only 16 towards the first receiver. Thetransmitter may then assign the second half of the antennas to thesecond receiver, dedicating 16 antennas to the second receiver. Thetransmitter may adjust the phases for the second half of the antennas.Once the 16 antennas have gone through each of the 8 phases, the secondreceiver may be obtaining the maximum voltage in the most efficientmanner to the receiver.

F. Wireless Power Transmission with Selective Range

1. Constructive Interference

FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B show an exemplary system 600 implementing wirelesspower transmission principles that may be implemented during exemplarypocket-forming processes. A transmitter 601 comprising a plurality ofantennas in an antenna array, may adjust the phase and amplitude, amongother possible attributes, of power transmission waves 607, beingtransmitted from antennas of the transmitter 601. As shown in FIG. 6A,in the absence of any phase or amplitude adjustment, power transmissionwaves 607 a may be transmitted from each of the antennas will arrive atdifferent locations and have different phases. These differences areoften due to the different distances from each antenna element of thetransmitter 601 a to a receiver 605 a or receivers 605 a, located at therespective locations.

Continuing with FIG. 6A, a receiver 605 a may receive multiple powertransmission signals, each comprising power transmission waves 607 a,from multiple antenna elements of a transmitter 601 a; the composite ofthese power transmission signals may be essentially zero, because inthis example, the power transmission waves add together destructively.That is, antenna elements of the transmitter 601 a may transmit theexact same power transmission signal (i.e., comprising powertransmission waves 607 a having the same features, such as phase andamplitude), and as such, when the power transmission waves 607 a of therespective power transmission signals arrive at the receiver 605 a, theyare offset from each other by 180 degrees. Consequently, the powertransmission waves 607 a of these power transmission signals “cancel”one another. Generally, signals offsetting one another in this way maybe referred to as “destructive,” and thus result in “destructiveinterference.”

In contrast, as shown in FIG. 6B, for so-called “constructiveinterference,” signals comprising power transmission waves 607 b thatarrive at the receiver exactly “in phase” with one another, combine toincrease the amplitude of the each signal, resulting in a composite thatis stronger than each of the constituent signals. In the illustrativeexample in FIG. 6A, note that the phase of the power transmission waves607 a in the transmit signals are the same at the location oftransmission, and then eventually add up destructively at the locationof the receiver 605 a. In contrast, in FIG. 6B, the phase of the powertransmission waves 607 b of the transmit signals are adjusted at thelocation of transmission, such that they arrive at the receiver 605 b inphase alignment, and consequently they add constructively. In thisillustrative example, there will be a resulting pocket of energy locatedaround the receiver 605 b in FIG. 6B; and there will be a transmissionnull located around receiver in FIG. 6A.

FIG. 7 depicts wireless power transmission with selective range 700,where a transmitter 702 may produce pocket-forming for a plurality ofreceivers associated with electrical devices 701. Transmitter 702 maygenerate pocket-forming through wireless power transmission withselective range 700, which may include one or more wireless chargingradii 704 and one or more radii of a transmission null at a particularphysical location 706. A plurality of electronic devices 701 may becharged or powered in wireless charging radii 704. Thus, several spotsof energy may be created, such spots may be employed for enablingrestrictions for powering and charging electronic devices 701. As anexample, the restrictions may include operating specific electronics ina specific or limited spot, contained within wireless charging radii704. Furthermore, safety restrictions may be implemented by the use ofwireless power transmission with selective range 700, such safetyrestrictions may avoid pockets of energy over areas or zones whereenergy needs to be avoided, such areas may include areas includingsensitive equipment to pockets of energy and/or people which do not wantpockets of energy over and/or near them. In embodiments such as the oneshown in FIG. 7, the transmitter 702 may comprise antenna elements foundon a different plane than the receivers associated with electricaldevices 701 in the served area. For example the receivers of electricaldevices 701 may be in a room where a transmitter 702 may be mounted onthe ceiling. Selective ranges for establishing pockets of energy usingpower transmission waves, which may be represented as concentric circlesby placing an antenna array of the transmitter 702 on the ceiling orother elevated location, and the transmitter 702 may emit powertransmission waves that will generate ‘cones’ of energy pockets. In someembodiments, the transmitter 701 may control the radius of each chargingradii 704, thereby establishing intervals for service area to createpockets of energy that are pointed down to an area at a lower plane,which may adjust the width of the cone through appropriate selection ofantenna phase and amplitudes.

FIG. 8 depicts wireless power transmission with selective range 800,where a transmitter 802 may produce pocket-forming for a plurality ofreceivers 806. Transmitter 802 may generate pocket-forming throughwireless power transmission with selective range 800, which may includeone or more wireless charging spots 804. A plurality of electronicdevices may be charged or powered in wireless charging spots 804.Pockets of energy may be generated over a plurality of receivers 806regardless the obstacles 804 surrounding them. Pockets of energy may begenerated by creating constructive interference, according to theprinciples described herein, in wireless charging spots 804. Location ofpockets of energy may be performed by tacking receivers 806 and byenabling a plurality of communication protocols by a variety ofcommunication systems such as, Bluetooth® technology, infraredcommunication, Wi-Fi, FM radio, among others.

G. Exemplary System Embodiment Using Heat Maps

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate a diagram of architecture 900A, 900B for awirelessly charging client computing platform, according to an exemplaryembodiment. In some implementations, a user may be inside a room and mayhold on his hands an electronic device (e.g. a smartphone, tablet). Insome implementations, electronic device may be on furniture inside theroom. The electronic device may include a receiver 920A, 920B eitherembedded to the electronic device or as a separate adapter connected toelectronic device. Receivers 920A, 920B may include all the componentsdescribed in FIG. 11. A transmitter 902A, 902B may be hanging on one ofthe walls of the room right behind user. Transmitters 902A, 902B mayalso include all the components described in FIG. 11.

As user may seem to be obstructing the path between receivers 920A, 920Band transmitters 902A, 902B, RF waves may not be easily aimed to thereceivers 920A, 920B in a linear direction. However, since the shortsignals generated from receivers 920A, 920B may be omni-directional forthe type of antenna element used, these signals may bounce over thewalls 944A, 944B until they reach transmitters 902A, 902B. A hot spot944A, 944B may be any item in the room which will reflect the RF waves.For example, a large metal clock on the wall may be used to reflect theRF waves to a user's cell phone.

A micro controller in the transmitter adjusts the transmitted signalfrom each antenna based on the signal received from the receiver.Adjustment may include forming conjugates of the signal phases receivedfrom the receivers and further adjustment of transmit antenna phasestaking into account the built-in phase of antenna elements. The antennaelement may be controlled simultaneously to steer energy in a givendirection. The transmitter 902A, 902B may scan the room, and look forhot spots 944A, 944B. Once calibration is performed, transmitters 902A,902B may focus RF waves in a channel following a path that may be themost efficient paths. Subsequently, RF signals 942A, 942B may form apocket of energy on a first electronic device and another pocket ofenergy in a second electronic device while avoiding obstacles such asuser and furniture.

When scanning the service area, the room in FIGS. 9A and 9B, thetransmitter 902A, 902B may employ different methods. As an illustrativeexample, but without limiting the possible methods that can be used, thetransmitter 902A, 902B may detect the phases and magnitudes of thesignal coming from the receiver and use those to form the set oftransmit phases and magnitudes, for example by calculating conjugates ofthem and applying them at transmit. As another illustrative example, thetransmitter may apply all possible phases of transmit antennas insubsequent transmissions, one at a time, and detect the strength of thepocket of energy formed by each combination by observing informationrelated to the signal from the receiver 920A, 920B. Then the transmitter902A, 902B repeats this calibration periodically. In someimplementations, the transmitter 902A, 902B does not have to searchthrough all possible phases, and can search through a set of phases thatare more likely to result in strong pockets of energy based on priorcalibration values. In yet another illustrative example, the transmitter902A, 902B may use preset values of transmit phases for the antennas toform pockets of energy directed to different locations in the room. Thetransmitter may for example scan the physical space in the room from topto bottom and left to right by using preset phase values for antennas insubsequent transmissions. The transmitter 902A, 902B then detects thephase values that result in the strongest pocket of energy around thereceiver 920 a, 920 b by observing the signal from the receiver 920 a,920 b. It should be appreciated that there are other possible methodsfor scanning a service area for heat mapping that may be employed,without deviating from the scope or spirit of the embodiments describedherein. The result of a scan, whichever method is used, is a heat-map ofthe service area (e.g., room, store) from which the transmitter 902A,902B may identify the hot spots that indicate the best phase andmagnitude values to use for transmit antennas in order to maximize thepocket of energy around the receiver.

The transmitters 902A, 902B, may use the Bluetooth connection todetermine the location of the receivers 920A, 920B, and may usedifferent non-overlapping parts of the RF band to channel the RF wavesto different receivers 920A, 920B. In some implementations, thetransmitters 902A, 902B, may conduct a scan of the room to determine thelocation of the receivers 920A, 920B and forms pockets of energy thatare orthogonal to each other, by virtue of non-overlapping RFtransmission bands. Using multiple pockets of energy to direct energy toreceivers may inherently be safer than some alternative powertransmission methods since no single transmission is very strong, whilethe aggregate power transmission signal received at the receiver isstrong.

H. Exemplary System Embodiment

FIG. 10A illustrates wireless power transmission using multiplepocket-forming 1000A that may include one transmitter 1002A and at leasttwo or more receivers 1020A. Receivers 1020A may communicate withtransmitters 1002A, which is further described in FIG. 11. Oncetransmitter 1002A identifies and locates receivers 1020A, a channel orpath can be established by knowing the gain and phases coming fromreceivers 1020A. Transmitter 1002A may start to transmit controlled RFwaves 1042A which may converge in three-dimensional space by using aminimum of two antenna elements. These RF waves 1042A may be producedusing an external power source and a local oscillator chip using asuitable piezoelectric material. RF waves 1042A may be controlled byRFIC, which may include a proprietary chip for adjusting phase and/orrelative magnitudes of RF signals that may serve as inputs for antennaelements to form constructive and destructive interference patterns(pocket-forming). Pocket-forming may take advantage of interference tochange the directionality of the antenna elements where constructiveinterference generates a pocket of energy 1060A and deconstructiveinterference generates a transmission null. Receivers 1020A may thenutilize pocket of energy 1060A produced by pocket-forming for chargingor powering an electronic device, for example, a laptop computer 1062Aand a smartphone 1052A and thus effectively providing wireless powertransmission.

Multiple pocket forming 1000A may be achieved by computing the phase andgain from each antenna of transmitter 1002A to each receiver 1020A. Thecomputation may be calculated independently because multiple paths maybe generated by antenna element from transmitter 1002A to antennaelement from receivers 1020A.

I. Exemplary System Embodiment

FIG. 10B is an exemplary illustration of multiple adaptivepocket-forming 1000B. In this embodiment, a user may be inside a roomand may hold on his hands an electronic device, which in this case maybe a tablet 1064B. In addition, smartphone 1052B may be on furnitureinside the room. Tablet 1064B and smartphone 1052B may each include areceiver either embedded to each electronic device or as a separateadapter connected to tablet 1064B and smartphone 1052B. Receiver mayinclude all the components described in FIG. 11. A transmitter 1002B maybe hanging on one of the walls of the room right behind user.Transmitter 1002B may also include all the components described in FIG.11. As user may seem to be obstructing the path between receiver andtransmitter 1002B, RF waves 1042B may not be easily aimed to eachreceiver in a line of sight fashion. However, since the short signalsgenerated from receivers may be omni-directional for the type of antennaelements used, these signals may bounce over the walls until they findtransmitter 1002B. Almost instantly, a micro-controller which may residein transmitter 1002B, may recalibrate the transmitted signals, based onthe received signals sent by each receiver, by adjusting gain and phasesand forming a convergence of the power transmission waves such that theyadd together and strengthen the energy concentrated at that location—incontrast to adding together in a way to subtract from each other anddiminish the energy concentrated at that location, which is called“destructive interference” and conjugates of the signal phases receivedfrom the receivers and further adjustment of transmit antenna phasestaking into account the built-in phase of antenna elements. Oncecalibration is performed, transmitter 1002B may focus RF waves followingthe most efficient paths. Subsequently, a pocket of energy 1060B mayform on tablet 1064B and another pocket of energy 1060B in smartphone1052B while taking into account obstacles such as user and furniture.The foregoing property may be beneficial in that wireless powertransmission using multiple pocket-forming 1000B may inherently be safeas transmission along each pocket of energy is not very strong, and thatRF transmissions generally reflect from living tissue and do notpenetrate.

Once transmitter 1002B identities and locates receiver, a channel orpath can be established by knowing the gain and phases coming fromreceiver. Transmitter 1002B may start to transmit controlled RF waves1042B that may converge in three-dimensional space by using a minimum oftwo antenna elements. These RF waves 1042B may be produced using anexternal power source and a local oscillator chip using a suitablepiezoelectric material. RF waves 1042B may be controlled by RFIC thatmay include a proprietary chip for adjusting phase and/or relativemagnitudes of RF signals, which may serve as inputs for antenna elementsto form constructive and destructive interference patterns(pocket-forming). Pocket-forming may take advantage of interference tochange the directionality of the antenna elements where constructiveinterference generates a pocket of energy and deconstructiveinterference generates a null in a particular physical location.Receiver may then utilize pocket of energy produced by pocket-formingfor charging or powering an electronic device, for example a laptopcomputer and a smartphone and thus effectively providing wireless powertransmission.

Multiple pocket-forming 1000B may be achieved by computing the phase andgain from each antenna of transmitter to each receiver. The computationmay be calculated independently because multiple paths may be generatedby antenna elements from transmitter to antenna elements from receiver.

An example of the computation for at least two antenna elements mayinclude determining the phase of the signal from the receiver andapplying the conjugate of the receive parameters to the antenna elementsfor transmission.

In some embodiments, two or more receivers may operate at differentfrequencies to avoid power losses during wireless power transmission.This may be achieved by including an array of multiple embedded antennaelements in transmitter 1002B. In one embodiment, a single frequency maybe transmitted by each antenna in the array. In other embodiments someof the antennas in the array may be used to transmit at a differentfrequency. For example, ½ of the antennas in the array may operate at2.4 GHz while the other ½ may operate at 5.8 GHz. In another example, ⅓of the antennas in the array may operate at 900 MHz, another ⅓ mayoperate at 2.4 GHz, and the remaining antennas in the array may operateat 5.8 GHz.

In another embodiment, each array of antenna elements may be virtuallydivided into one or more antenna elements during wireless powertransmission, where each set of antenna elements in the array cantransmit at a different frequency. For example, an antenna element ofthe transmitter may transmit power transmission signals at 2.4 GHz, buta corresponding antenna element of a receiver may be configured toreceive power transmission signals at 5.8 GHz. In this example, aprocessor of the transmitter may adjust the antenna element of thetransmitter to virtually or logically divide the antenna elements in thearray into a plurality patches that may be fed independently. As aresult, ¼ of the array of antenna elements may be able to transmit the5.8 GHz needed for the receiver, while another set of antenna elementsmay transmit at 2.4 GHz. Therefore, by virtually dividing an array ofantenna elements, electronic devices coupled to receivers can continueto receive wireless power transmission. The foregoing may be beneficialbecause, for example, one set of antenna elements may transmit at about2.4 GHz and other antenna elements may transmit at 5.8 GHz, and thus,adjusting a number of antenna elements in a given array when workingwith receivers operating at different frequencies. In this example, thearray is divided into equal sets of antenna elements (e.g., four antennaelements), but the array may be divided into sets of different amountsof antenna elements. In an alternative embodiment, each antenna elementmay alternate between select frequencies.

The efficiency of wireless power transmission as well as the amount ofpower that can be delivered (using pocket-forming) may be a function ofthe total number of antenna elements 1006 used in a given receivers andtransmitters system. For example, for delivering about one watt at about15 feet, a receiver may include about 80 antenna elements while atransmitter may include about 256 antenna elements. Another identicalwireless power transmission system (about 1 watt at about 15 feet) mayinclude a receiver with about 40 antenna elements, and a transmitterwith about 512 antenna elements. Reducing in half the number of antennaelements in a receiver may require doubling the number of antennaelements in a transmitter. In some embodiments, it may be beneficial toput a greater number of antenna elements in transmitters than in areceivers because of cost, because there will be much fewer transmittersthan receivers in a system-wide deployment. However, the opposite can beachieved, e.g., by placing more antenna elements on a receiver than on atransmitter as long as there are at least two antenna elements in atransmitter 1002B.

II. Wireless Power Software Management System

A. System and Method for Smart Registration of Wireless Power Receiversin a Wireless Power Network

FIG. 11 shows a wireless power system 1100 using a wireless powertransmitter manager 1102, according to an embodiment. Wireless powertransmitter manager 1102 may include a processor with computer-readablemedium, such as a random access memory (RAM) (not shown) coupled to theprocessor. Examples of processor may include a microprocessor, anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and field programmableobject array (FPOA), among others.

Wireless power transmitter manager 1102 may transmit controlled RF wavesthat act as power transmission signals that may converge in 3-d space toa wireless power receiver 1104 for charging or powering a customerdevice 1106. Although the exemplary embodiment recites the use of RFwaves as power transmission signals, the power transmission signals mayinclude any number of alternative or additional techniques fortransmitting energy to a wireless power receiver converting thetransmitted energy to electrical power. These RF waves may be controlledthrough phase and/or relative amplitude adjustments to form constructiveand destructive interference patterns (pocket-forming). Pockets ofenergy may form at constructive interference patterns and can be3-dimensional in shape, whereas null-spaces may be present outside theconstructive interference patterns.

Wireless power receiver 1104 may be paired with customer device 1106 ormay be built into customer device 1106. Examples of customer devices1106 may include laptop computer, mobile device, smartphones, tablets,music players, and toys, among other. Wireless power transmitter manager1102 may receive customer device's signal strength from advertisementemitted by wireless power receiver 1104 for the purpose of detecting ifwireless power receiver 1104 is nearer to wireless power transmittermanager 1102 than to any other wireless power transmitter manager 1102in system 1100.

Customer device 1106 may include a graphical user interface 1112 (GUI).Graphical user interface 1112 (GUI) may receive customer device's signalstrength from advertisement emitted by wireless power receiver 1104 forthe purpose of detecting if wireless power receiver 1104 is paired withgraphical user interface 1112 (GUI).

According to some aspects of this embodiment, wireless power transmittermanager 1102 may include a device database 1116, where device database1116 may store information about all network devices, such asuniversally unique identifier (UUID), serial number, signal strength,identification of paired partner device, customer device's powerschedules and manual overrides; customer device's past and presentoperational status, battery level and charge status, hardware valuemeasurements, faults, errors, and significant events; names, customer'sauthentication or authorization names, and configuration details runningthe system, among others. Device database 1116 may also storesinformation about all system devices such as wireless power transmittermanagers, wireless power receivers, end user hand-held devices, andservers, among others

Under control of wireless power transmitter manager 1102, wireless powersystem 1100 may send power in a range up to 30 feet.

Wireless power transmitter manager 1102, with control over wirelesspower receiver's power record, may allow sending power to a specificwireless power receiver 1104. In one embodiment, wireless powertransmitter managers 1102 may need to fulfill two conditions to controlwireless power receiver's power record in device database 1116; customerdevice's signal strength threshold has to be significantly greater than50% (for example 55%) of the signal strength measured by all otherwireless power transmitter managers 1102 and has to remain significantlygreater than 50% for a minimum amount of time.

Wireless power transmitter manager 1102 may use, but is not limited to,Bluetooth low energy (BLE) to establish a communication link 1108 withwireless power receiver 1104 and a control link 1110 with customerdevice's graphical user interface (GUI). Wireless power transmittermanager 1102 may use control link 1110 to receive commands from andreceive pairing information from customer device's graphical userinterface (GUI).

Wireless power transmitter manager 1102 may include antenna managersoftware 1114 to track customer device 1106. Antenna manager software1114 may use real time telemetry to read the state of the power receivedin customer device 1106.

Wireless power transmitter manager 1102 may create a wireless energyarea model which includes information about all the movements in thesystem. This information may be stored in device database 1116.

In other situations, there can be multiple wireless power transmittermanagers 2902 and/or multiple wireless power receivers 1104 for poweringmultiple and various customer devices 1106.

FIG. 12 illustrates a system architecture for smart registration 1200 ofwireless power receivers within a wireless power network, according toanother embodiment.

In a wireless power network, one or more wireless power transmittermanagers and/or one or more wireless power receivers may be used forpowering various customer devices.

Each wireless power device in the wireless power network may include auniversally unique identifier (UUID). Examples of wireless power devicesmay include wireless power transmitter manager, wireless power receiver,end user hand-held or mobile devices, and servers, among others.

A wireless power transmitter manager 1202 may include a processor withcomputer-readable medium, such as a random access memory (RAM) (notshown) coupled to the processor. Examples of processor may include amicroprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and afield programmable object array (FPOA), among others.

According to some aspects of this embodiment, each wireless power devicebought by a customer may be registered at the time of purchase, orregistered later by the customer using public accessible web page orsmart device application that communicates to energy domain service1214. The device may registered with the wireless power network, via aregistry stored in an energy domain service 1214.

Energy domain service 1214 may be one or more cloud-based servers andeach cloud-based servers may include a database that may store aregistry for each wireless power device purchased by a customer.Cloud-based servers may be implemented through known in the art databasemanagement systems (DBMS) such as, for example, MySQL, PostgreSQL,SQLite, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, Oracle, SAP, dBASE,FoxPro, IBM DB2, LibreOffice Base, FileMaker Pro and/or any other typeof database that may organize collections of data. The registry mayinclude customer's name, customer's credit card, Pay Pal account, or anyother method of payment, address, and wireless power device UUID, amongothers. The registry may indicate whether wireless power transmittermanager 1202 is for business, commercial, municipal, government,military, or home use. The registry may also include different accesspolicies for each wireless power transmitter manager 1202, depending onit use, for example if wireless power transmitter manager 1202 will befor businesses use, the customer may need to define whether the powertransfer will be charged or not.

In a different aspect of this embodiment, a wireless power receiver 1204may include a nonvolatile memory for storing wireless power transmittermanager 1202 universally unique identifier (UUID). Examples ofnonvolatile memory may include read-only memory, flash memory,ferroelectric RAM (F-RAM) hard disks, floppy disks, and optical discs,among others. Wireless power receiver 1204 may be paired with customerdevice 1206 or may be built into customer device 1206. Examples ofcustomer devices 1206 may include laptop computer, mobile device,smartphone, tablet, music player, and toys, among other. Customer device1206 may include a graphical user interface 1208 (GUI) as part ofwireless power system software downloaded and installed from publicapplication store.

According to some aspects of this embodiment, wireless power transmittermanager 1202 may include a device database 1210, where device database1210 may store information about all network devices such as universallyunique identifier (UUID), serial number, signal strength, identificationof paired partner device, customer device's power schedules and manualoverrides; customer device's past and present operational status,battery level and charge status, hardware value measurements, faults,errors, and significant events; names, customer's authentication orauthorization names, and configuration details running the system, amongothers.

Wireless power transmitter manager 1202 may send power in a range up to30 feet.

According to some aspects of this embodiment, wireless power transmittermanager 1202 may detect customer device's signal strength fromadvertisement emitted graphical user interface 1208 (GUI) for thepurpose of detecting if wireless power receiver 1204 is paired withgraphical user interface 1208 (GUI). Wireless power transmitter manager1202 may also detect if wireless power receiver 1204 is nearer towireless power transmitter manager 1202 than to any other wireless powertransmitter manager 1202 in the wireless power network through ananalysis of each device database records in the wireless power system1200. Each record may include a list of each wireless power receiver1204 and its signal strength relative to and detected by wireless powertransmitter manager 1202. Then wireless power receiver 1204 may beassigned to wireless power transmitter manager 1202, which may haveexclusive control and authority to change the wireless power receiver'srecord in distributed system device database 1210 until wireless powerreceiver 1204 moves to a new location closer to another wireless powertransmitter manager 1202. If wireless power receiver 1204 change to newlocation closer to another wireless power transmitter manager 1202, thenwireless power transmitter manager 1202 (with control over wirelesspower receiver 1204) may update wireless power receiver's record withits UUID.

If wireless power receiver 1204 tries to charge using wireless powertransmitter manager 1202, then wireless power transmitter manager 1202may verify with energy domain service 1214 if it is authorized to sendpower to wireless power receiver 1204. Therefore wireless powertransmitter manager 1202 may establish a communication connection withwireless power receiver 1204 to request its universally uniqueidentifier (UUID). Wireless power receiver 1204 may send UUID towireless power transmitter manager 1202. Wireless power transmittermanager 1202 may establish communication connection with energy domainservice 1214 and then send its UUID and wireless power receiver 1204UUID to energy domain service 1214 through an internet cloud 1212, whereinternet cloud 1212 may be any suitable connections between computerssuch as, for example, intranets, local area networks (LAN), virtualprivate networks (VPN), wide area networks (WAN) and the internet amongothers. Once energy domain service 1214 receives wireless powertransmitter UUID and wireless power receiver 1204 UUID, it may inspectthe registry for wireless power transmitter manager 1202 using UUID.Registry may include access policy for wireless power transmittermanager 1202. Energy domain service 1214 may determine through theaccess policy whether wireless power transmitter manager 1202 needs topay to receive power. If wireless power transmitter manager 1202 accesspolicy states that wireless power receiver 1204 with UUID needs to payto receive power, energy domain service 1214 may verify whether a creditcard, Pay Pal, or other payment method, may be denoted within wirelesspower receiver 1204 registry. If a payment method is associated withwireless power receiver 1204, energy domain service 1214 may send amessage to wireless power transmitter manager 1202 authorizing the powertransfer to wireless power receiver 1204. Wireless power transmittermanager 1202 may report energy consumption statistics to energy domainservice 1214 for subsequent billing of wireless power receiver's owner.Energy consumption statistics may be stored in device database 1210 andalso may be sent to energy domain service 1214 and saved in wirelesspower receiver's registry.

If no payment method is associated with wireless power receiver 1204,energy domain service 1214 may send a message to wireless powertransmitter manager 1202 denying the power transfer to wireless powerreceiver 1204.

In the case wireless power transmitter manager 1202 access policy statesthat no charge will be applied to certain wireless power receivers 1204,then energy domain service 1214 may confirm if wireless power receiver1204 is allowed to receive power from wireless power transmitter manager1202. If wireless power receiver 1204 is allowed to receive power fromwireless power transmitter manager 1202, then, energy domain service1214 may send a message to wireless power transmitter manager 1202authorizing the power transfer to wireless power receiver 1204.Otherwise energy domain service 1214 may send a message to wirelesspower transmitter manager 1202 denying the power transfer to wirelesspower receiver 1204.

According to some aspect of this embodiment, a customer, may be able toselect through a GUI device, which wireless power receivers 1204 mayreceive charge from wireless power transmitter manager 1202. In the GUIdevice, customer may be able to visualize each wireless power receiver1204 near wireless power transmitter manager 1202, then, customer mayselect which wireless power receivers 1204 are allowed to receive chargefrom wireless power transmitter manager 1202. This information may bestored in device database 1210 and also may be sent to energy domainservice 1214.

In a different aspect of this embodiment, a proprietor or clerk of acommercial or retail business establishment that owns a wireless powersystem may be able to select through the GUI device a wireless powerreceiver 1204 to receive power from one or more wireless powertransmitter managers 1202 within power range of wireless power receiver1204. The customer may be provided with a pre-authorized wireless powerreceiver 1204 at business establishment by proprietor or clerk. Thewireless power receiver 1204 may be attached to customer's device. Theproprietor or clerks may specify to GUI device the customer's method ofpayment (credit card, Pay Pal, cash, among others.). Immediately thewireless power transmitter manager 1202 that belong to businessestablishment may start sending power to the customer device that isattached to pre-authorized wireless power receiver 1204. Customer may bebilled on behalf of business establishment for power provided. Also inthe GUI device, proprietor or clerk may be able to visualize powerreceived by wireless power receiver 1204 and the amount to bill forpower received. This information may be stored in distributed systemdevice database 1210 and also may be sent to energy domain service 1214.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a method for smart registration 1300 ofwireless power receivers within a wireless power network, according to afurther embodiment.

In a wireless power network, one or more wireless power transmittermanagers and/or one or more wireless power receivers may be used forpowering various customer devices. Each wireless power device in thewireless power network may include a universally unique identifier(UUID). Examples of wireless power devices may include wireless powertransmitter manager, wireless power receiver, end user hand-held ormobile devices and servers, among others.

The method may start at step 1302 when a wireless power transmittermanager detects a customer device. Customer device may be paired withwireless power receiver or wireless power receiver may be built in acustomer device. Example of customer devices may include smartphones,mobile device, tablets, music players, toys and others at the same time.Customer device may include a graphical user interface (GUI) as part ofwireless power system software downloaded and installed from publicapplication store.

Wireless power transmitter manager may detect customer device's signalstrength from advertisement emitted graphical user interface (GUI) forthe purpose of detecting if wireless power receiver is paired withgraphical user interface (GUI). Wireless power transmitter manager mayalso detect if wireless power receiver is nearer to wireless powertransmitter manager than to any other wireless power transmitter managerin the wireless power network through an analysis of each devicedatabase records in the wireless power system. Each record may include alist of each wireless power receiver and its signal strength relative toand detected by wireless power transmitter manager. Then wireless powerreceiver may be assigned to wireless power transmitter manager, whichmay have exclusive control and authority to change the wireless powerreceiver's record in distributed system device database until wirelesspower receiver moves to a new location closer to another wireless powertransmitter manager.

According to some aspects of this embodiment, Device database may storeinformation about all network devices such as universally uniqueidentifier (UUID), serial number, signal strength, identification ofpaired partner device, customer device's power schedules and manualoverrides; customer device's past and present operational status,battery level and charge status, hardware value measurements, faults,errors, and significant events; names, customer's authentication orauthorization names, and configuration details running the system, amongothers.

Wireless power transmitter manager may establish a communicationconnection with wireless power receiver indicating is within range toreceive charge. Wireless power transmitter manager may send power in arange up to 30 feet.

If wireless power receiver tries to obtain charge from wireless powertransmitter manager, wireless power transmitter manager may verify withenergy domain service if it is authorized to send power to wirelesspower receiver. Therefore wireless power transmitter may establish acommunication connection with wireless power receiver to requestuniversally unique identifier (UUID). Wireless power receiver may sendUUID to wireless power transmitter manager. Wireless power transmittermanager may read wireless power receiver UUID, at step 1904.

Energy domain service may be one or more cloud-based servers and eachcloud-based servers may include a database that may store a registry foreach wireless power device purchased by a customer. Cloud-based serversmay be implemented through known in the art database management systems(DBMS) such as, for example, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Microsoft SQLServer, Microsoft Access, Oracle, SAP, dBASE, FoxPro, IBM DB2,LibreOffice Base, FileMaker Pro and/or any other type of database thatmay organize collections of data. The registry may include customer'sname, customer's credit card, address, and wireless power device UUID,among others. The registry may indicate whether wireless powertransmitter manager is for business, commercial, municipal, government,military, or home use. The registry may also include different accesspolicies for each wireless power transmitter manager, depending on ituse, for example if wireless power transmitter manager will be forbusinesses use, the customer may need to define whether the powertransfer will be charged or not.

According to some aspects of this embodiment, each wireless power devicebought by a customer may be registered at the time of purchase, orregistered later by the customer using public accessible web page orsmart device application that communicates to energy domain service.

Wireless power transmitter manager may send its UUID and also wirelesspower receiver UUID to an energy domain service through the internetcloud, at step 1306. Internet cloud may be any suitable connectionsbetween computers such as, for example, intranets, local area networks(LAN), virtual private networks (VPN), wide area networks (WAN) and theinternet among others.

Energy domain service may inspect the registry for wireless powertransmitter manager using UUID, at step 1308. Registry may includeaccess policy for wireless power transmitter manager.

Energy domain service may determine through the access policy whetherwireless power transmitter manager needs to pay to receive power, atstep 1310.

If wireless power transmitter manager access policy states that wirelesspower receiver with UUID needs to pay to receive power, energy domainservice may verify whether a credit card, Pay Pal, or other paymentmethod, may be denoted within wireless power receiver registry, at step1312.

If a payment method is associated with wireless power receiver registry,energy domain service may send a message to wireless power transmittermanager authorizing the power transfer to wireless power receiver, atstep 1314.

Wireless power transmitter manager may report energy consumptionstatistics to energy domain service for subsequent billing of wirelesspower receiver's owner, at step 1316. Energy consumption statistics maybe stored in device database and also may be sent to energy domainservice and saved in wireless power receiver's registry.

In the case no payment method is associated with wireless powerreceiver, energy domain service may send a message to wireless powertransmitter manager denying the power transfer to wireless powerreceiver, at step 1318.

Else, if wireless power transmitter manager access policy states that nocharge will be applied to a certain wireless power receiver which may betrying to obtain power from wireless power transmitter manager, energydomain service may confirm whether wireless power receiver is allowed toreceive power from wireless power transmitter manager, at step 1320.

If wireless power receiver is allowed to receive power from wirelesspower transmitter manager. Energy domain service may send a message towireless power transmitter manager authorizing the power transfer towireless power receiver, at step 1314.

Wireless power transmitter manager may report energy consumptionstatistics to energy domain service, at step 1316. Energy consumptionstatistics may be stored in device database and also may be sent toenergy domain service and saved in wireless power receiver's registry.

Otherwise if wireless power receiver is not allowed to receive powerfrom the wireless power transmitter, energy domain service may send amessage to wireless power transmitter manager denying the power transferto wireless power receiver, at step 1322.

According to some aspect of this embodiment, a customer may be able toselect through a GUI device which wireless power receivers may receivecharge from wireless power transmitter manager. In the GUI device,customer may be able to visualize each wireless power receiver near towireless power transmitter manager, then customer may select whichwireless power receivers are allowed to receive charge from wirelesspower transmitter manager. This information may be stored in devicedatabase and also may be sent to energy domain service.

Examples

Example #1 is a wireless power network with components similar to thosedescribed in FIG. 12. A customer may have a wireless power transmittermanager in his/her house. The customer invites three friends to watch afootball game. Two of the three friends have a wireless power receivercover paired with their cellphones. When both wireless power receiversare within the range of the wireless power transmitter manager, they mayreceive a message from wireless power transmitter manager indicatingthey are within range to receive power. One of the wireless powerreceivers may try to obtain power from wireless power transmittermanager, but first the wireless power transmitter manager may verifywhether wireless power receiver is authorized to receive power.Therefore wireless power transmitter manager may send its own UUID andwireless power receiver UUID to an energy domain service. Energy domainservice may verify access policy for wireless power transmitter managerto determine if a billing charge has to be applied for using wirelesspower transmitter manager. The access policy for wireless powertransmitter manager may indicate that no charge will be applied forusing wireless power transmitter manager and that any wireless powerreceiver is able to receive charge from it. Energy domain service mayverify wireless power receiver registry and then energy domain servicemay authorize wireless power transmitter manager to send power towireless power receiver.

Example #2 is a wireless power network with components similar to thosedescribed in FIG. 12. A restaurant may have a wireless power transmittermanager. A customer within the restaurant has a cellphone with awireless power receiver cover. The customer may want to charge his/hercellphone while having dinner. The customer tries to charge his/hercellphone using wireless power transmitter manager, the wireless powertransmitter manager may need to verify if wireless power receiver isauthorized to receive power. Therefore wireless power transmittermanager may send its own UUID and wireless power receiver UUID to anenergy domain service. Energy domain service may verify access policyfor wireless power transmitter manager to determine if a billing chargehas to be applied for using wireless power transmitter manager. Theaccess policy for wireless power transmitter manager may indicate that acharge will be applied for using wireless power transmitter manager.Then, energy domain service may verify wireless power register todetermine whether a method of payment such as credit card or othermethod is associated with wireless power receiver. If a payment methodis on the registry file, energy domain service may authorize wirelesspower transmitter manager to send power to wireless power receiver.Wireless power transmitter manager may track the amount of power sent towireless power receiver. This information may be stored in devicedatabase and also may be sent to energy domain service to generate abill, on behalf of the restaurant.

III. Managing Power Transfer from Multiple Transmitters

A. System and Method for Controlling Communication Between WirelessPower Transmitter Managers

FIG. 14 illustrates a transmitter communications transition 1400; asused herein transmitter communications transition refers to transitionof communications with a wireless power receiver, between one wirelesspower transmitter to another wireless power transmitter in a wirelesspower transmission system, according to an embodiment. Thecommunications involved in a transmitter communications transition mayinclude one or more of one way communications, two way communications,and wireless transfer of power. In one embodiment, transmittercommunications transition refers specifically to a transition ofcommunications with a wireless power receiver, between one wirelesspower transmitter manager to another wireless power transmitter manager.

In a wireless power transmission system, multiple wireless powertransmitter managers and/or multiple wireless power receivers may beused for powering various customer devices 1402. A wireless powerreceiver 1404 may be paired with customer device 1402 or may be builtinto customer device 1402. Example of customer devices 1402 may includesmartphones, tablets, music players, toys and others at the same time.Customer device 1402 may include a graphical user interface (GUI)

Each wireless power transmitter manager in the wireless powertransmission system may receive customer device's signal strength fromads emitted by wireless power receiver 1404 and graphical user interface(GUI).

Each wireless power transmitter manager in the wireless powertransmission system may include a device database 1410. Device database1410 may store customer device's power schedules, customer device'sstatus, names, customer's sign names, and details running the system,among others, for each customer device 1402 in the wireless powertransmission system near to a wireless power transmitter manager. Devicedatabase 1410 may also stores information about all system devices suchas wireless power transmitter managers, wireless power receivers, enduser hand-held devices, and servers, among others.

A Wi-Fi connection 1412 may be established between a wireless powertransmitter manager one 1406 and a wireless power transmitter managertwo 1408 to share between system devices: device database's powerrecords, quality control information, statistics, and problem reports,among others

Each wireless power transmitter manager may create a wireless energyarea model which includes information about all the movements in thesystem. Also this information may be stored at device database 1410.Wireless energy area model may be used in transmitter communicationstransitions, i.e. in transitioning communications and power transferfrom wireless power transmitter manager one 1406 to wireless powertransmitter manager two 1408. For example if a customer device 1402moves away from wireless power transmitter manager one 1406 and nearerto wireless power transmitter manager two 1408, this movement may beregistered in the wireless energy area model.

In another aspect of this embodiment, wireless power transmittermanagers may transfer power in a range between 175 feet to 30 feet, butonly wireless power transmitter manager with control over wireless powerreceiver's power record, may be allowed sending power to a specificwireless power receiver. Furthermore wireless power transmitter managersmay share wireless power receiver's power record, but only the wirelesspower transmitter manager, with control over wireless power receiver'spower record, can change the information stored for that power record inthe device database 1410.

According to some aspects of this embodiment, wireless power transmittermanagers may need to fulfill two conditions to control power transferover a customer device; customer device's signal strength threshold hasto be significantly greater than a predetermined percentage of thesignal strength measured by all the other wireless power transmittermanagers for a minimum amount of time, where the predeterminedpercentage is generally well above 1700%. For example, in the case of apredetermined percentage of 400%, the signal strength threshold has tobe greater than 405%. If multiple wireless power transmitter managersare within range to communicate with and transfer power to a givenwireless power receiver, then only the closest wireless powertransmitter manager or the last wireless power transmitter managerclosest to wireless power receiver, has control of the wireless powerreceiver's power record in device database 1410, however each wirelesspower transmitter manager may individually and simultaneously transferpower to the power record. In this case, communication with the wirelesspower receiver is time-phased (shared) between the multiple wirelesspower transmitter managers so that each can track the 3-D location ofthe wireless power receiver, in case it is in movement.

In another aspect of this embodiment, wireless power transmitter managerone 1406 and wireless power transmitter manager two 1408 may sharecustomer device's information through a cloud 1414. Both wireless powertransmitter managers may be connected to cloud 1414 through networkconnections (not shown in FIG. 14). Network connections may refer to anysuitable connections between computers such as, for example, intranets,local area networks (LAN), virtual private networks (VPN), wireless areanetworks (WAN) and the internet among others. Cloud 1414 may also beused to share between system devices: quality control information,statistics, and problem reports, among others.

According to some aspects of this embodiment, a server 1416 may beconnected to cloud 1414 as a backup of device database 1410 shared byevery wireless power transmitter manager in the wireless powertransmission system.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart 1500 of a transmitter communications transition,between one wireless power transmitter manager to another, in a wirelesspower transmission system, according to an embodiment.

In a wireless power transmission system with two wireless powertransmitter managers the process may start when a wireless powerreceiver moves away from a wireless power transmitter manager and nearerto another, at step 1502. A customer device may be paired with thewireless power receiver. Example of customer devices may includesmartphones, tablets, music players, and toys, among others. Customerdevice may include a graphical user interface (GUI).

Wireless power transmitter managers may receive customer device's signalstrength from ads emitted by wireless power receiver and graphical userinterface (GUI).

Subsequently, both wireless power transmitter managers may update adevice database with the customer device's signal strength measured byeach transmitter manager, at step 1504.

Each wireless power transmitter manager in the wireless powertransmission system may include a device database. Device database maystore customer device's power schedules, customer device's status,names, customer's sign names, and details running the system, amongothers, for each customer device in the power transmission system nearto a given wireless power transmitter manager. Device database also maystore information about all system devices such as wireless powertransmitter managers, wireless power receivers, end user hand-helddevices, and servers, among others.

According to some aspects of this embodiment, only the wireless powertransmitter manager with control over wireless power receiver's powerrecord, may be allowed sending power to a specific wireless powerreceiver. Also wireless power transmitter managers in the system mayshare wireless power receiver's power records but only the wirelesspower transmitter manager with control over wireless power receiver'spower record, can change the information stored for that power record inthe device database.

Both wireless power transmitter managers may decide which one of themfirst receives the strongest signal strength from customer device, atstep 1506.

According to some aspects of this embodiment, wireless power transmittermanagers may need to fulfill two conditions to control power transferover a customer device; customer device's signal strength threshold hasto be significantly greater than a predetermined percentage of thesignal strength measured by all the other wireless power transmittermanagers for a minimum amount of time, where the predeterminedpercentage is generally well above 1700%. For example, in the case of apredetermined percentage of 400%, the signal strength threshold has tobe greater than 405%. If multiple wireless power transmitter managersare within range to communicate with and transfer power to a givenwireless power receiver, then only the closest wireless powertransmitter manager or the last wireless power transmitter managerclosest to wireless power receiver, has control of the wireless powerreceiver's power record in the device database, however each wirelesspower transmitter manager may individually and simultaneously transferpower to the power record. In this case, communication with the wirelesspower receiver is time-phased (shared) between the multiple wirelesspower transmitter managers so that each can track the 3-D location ofthe wireless power receiver, in case it is in movement.

The wireless power transmitter manager that first receives the strongestsignal strength from customer device, it may verify if the signalstrength of customer device has been significantly greater thanpredetermined percentage (for example greater than 405%, for apredetermined percentage of 400%) for a minimum amount of time, at step1508.

The wireless power transmitter manager that first receives the strongestsignal strength from customer device for a minimum amount of time maytake control of wireless power receiver's power records and powertransfer, at step 1510.

FIG. 16 is an exemplary embodiment 1600 of a transmitter communicationstransition, between one wireless power transmitter manager to another,in a wireless power transmission system, according to an embodiment.

In a wireless power transmission system 1608, multiple wireless powertransmitter managers and/or multiple wireless power receivers may beused for powering various customer devices.

As an exemplary embodiment 1600, two wireless power transmitter managersmay be in different rooms. Wireless power transmitter manager one 1602may be located in room B and wireless power transmitter manager two 1604may be located in room A. Room A and B may be next to each other.

Wireless power receiver 1606 may be located in room B and may receivepower transfer from wireless power transmitter manager one 1602. Acustomer device may be paired with a wireless power receiver 1606.Example of customer devices may include smartphones, tablets, musicplayers, toys and others at the same time. Customer device may include agraphical user interface (GUI).

Each wireless power transmitter manager near to customer device mayreceive customer device's signal strength from ads emitted by wirelesspower receiver 1606 and graphical user interface (GUI).

Each wireless power transmitter manager in the power transmission system1608 may have a device database. Device database may store customerdevice's power schedules, customer device's status, names, customer signnames, and details running the system, among others, for each customerdevice in the power transmission system 1608 near to any wireless powertransmitter manager. Device database also may store information aboutall system devices such as wireless power transmitter managers, wirelesspower receivers, end user hand-held devices, and servers, among others.

Each wireless power transmitter manager may create a wireless energyarea model which includes information about all the movements in thesystem. This information may be used to effect a transmittercommunications transition involving control of power transfer fromwireless power transmitter manager one 1602 to wireless powertransmitter manager two 1604. Wireless energy area model may be storedin the corresponding device database for each wireless power transmittermanager.

If wireless power receiver 1606 starts moving from room B to room A,wireless power transmitter manager one 1602 may take control over powertransfer for wireless power receiver 1606 and wireless powertransmitter's power records if customer device's signal strengththreshold is significantly greater than 400% of the signal strengthmeasured by all other wireless power transmitter managers. For exampleif wireless power transmitter manager one 1602 receives 23B0% signalstrength from customer device, wireless power transmitter manager one1602 may still have control over power transfer and wireless powerreceiver's power records

If wireless power receiver 1606 continues moving toward room A, butwireless power transmitter manager one 1602 receives 410% signalstrength from customer device, wireless power transmitter manager one1602 may still have control over power transfer and wireless powerreceiver's power records.

Wireless power receiver 1606 may move until mid-way between room A androom B. If wireless power transmitter manager one 1602 and wirelesspower transmitter manager two 1604 receives 400% signal strength fromcustomer device, wireless power transmitter manager one 1602 may stillhave control over power transfer and wireless power receiver's powerrecords.

Wireless power receiver 1606 continues moving towards room A. Ifwireless power transmitter manager one 1602 may receive 40% or 45%signal strength from customer device and wireless power transmittermanager two 1604 may receive 405% or 410% signal strength from customerdevice for a minimum amount of time, wireless power transmitter managerone 1602 may effect a transmitter communications transition,transferring control of power transfer, and may provide wireless powerreceiver's power record to wireless power transmitter manager two 1604.Wireless power transmitter manager two 1604 may take control over powertransfer and wireless receiver power's power record.

If wireless power receiver 1606 moves back from room A to room B,wireless power transmitter manager two 1604 may have control over powertransfer for wireless power receiver 1606 until signal strength drops to45% or less for a minimum amount of time. Wireless power transmittermanager one 1602 may take control over power transfer until customerdevice's signal strength reaches 405% or more for a minimum amount oftime.

Examples

Example #1 is an application of the system described in FIG. 14. Firstwireless power transmitter manager may be located in a living room and asecond wireless power transmitter manager may be located in a bedroom. Acustomer may be watching television in the living room, and at the sametime the customer may be charging his cellphone using the wireless powertransmitter manager located in the living room. The customer's cellphonemay be paired with a wireless power receiver. Wireless power transmittermanager located in the living room and wireless power transmittermanager located in the bedroom may receive customer cellphone's signalstrength from ads emitted by wireless power receiver and cellphone'sgraphical user interface (GUI). The customer may go to sleep and maytake his cellphone with him; the customer's cellphone may continuecharging using the wireless power transmitter manager located in theliving room until his/her cellphone's signal strength drops to 45% orless. When the cellphone's signal strength drops to 45% or less forwireless power transmitter manager located in the living room, wirelesspower transmitter manager located in the bedroom may take control overpower transfer without power transfer interruption, after it receives405% or more signal strength for a minimum amount of time. Customercellphone may continue charging using wireless power transmitter managerlocated in the bedroom. A transmitter communications transition betweenwireless power transmitter managers located in the living room andwireless power transmitter manager located in the bedroom may not benoticed by customer.

B. Cluster Management of Transmitters

The wireless power management system provides cluster management of aplurality or cluster of transmitters at a location, facilitating thetransfer of power from two or more transmitters in the cluster oftransmitters to a power receiver. In cluster management of a pluralityof transmitters, transmitter communications transition refers totransition of communications with a wireless power receiver between onewireless power transmitter to another wireless power transmitter in theplurality or cluster of transmitters. The communications involved in atransmitter communications transition may include one or more of one waycommunications, two way communications, and wireless transfer of power.In one embodiment, transmitter communications transition refersspecifically to a transition of communications with a wireless powerreceiver, between one wireless power transmitter manager to anotherwireless power transmitter manager of the plurality or cluster oftransmitters. In an embodiment, transmitter communications transitionsoccur as a mobile device associated with a power receiver moves to,from, or within the transmitter cluster location.

In an exemplary transmitter and receiver embodiment, a receiver isembedded in or otherwise joined to a device such as a mobile phone. Inthe embodiment described below, status communications betweentransmitter and receiver are hosted using the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)wireless communications protocol. BLE is exemplary of a broad range ofwireless communications protocols that are capable of hosting statuscommunications between the transmitters and receivers (for example,Wi-Fi (IEEE 23A02.11), Near Field Communication (NFC), radio frequencyidentification (RFID), iBeacon), and the present transmitter clustermanagement method is not limited to a particular status communicationprotocol. The transmitter and receiver each has a Bluetooth low energy(BLE) processor. In use, the transmitter's BLE processor scans forBluetooth devices. When the receiver's Bluetooth processor powers up, itbegins advertising that it is a Bluetooth device. The advertisementincludes a unique identifier so that when the transmitter scans theadvertisement, it will distinguish that receiver's advertisement fromall other Bluetooth devices in range. In response to thisidentification, the transmitter immediately forms a communicationconnection with the receiver and will command the receiver.

After forming the BLE communication connection between transmitter andreceiver, the transmitter commences sending power transfer signals tothe receiver (for example, at a rate of 3400 times a second), and thereceiver sends voltage sample measurements back to the transmitter. Thetransmitter analyzes these voltage measurements while varying theconfiguration of the transmitter antennas in phase and gain, untilachieving a maximum voltage level. At this level, there is maximumenergy in the pocket around the receiver. The wireless power transfermanagement system continually receives status and usage data from thetransmitter, and through the transmitter, obtains status and usageinformation from the receiver), as with all other transmitters andreceivers in the system. For example, as applied to energy harvest, thereceiver communicates the updated energy harvest value to thetransmitter, once a second. The transmitter accumulates data such asenergy harvest values from the receiver, and from any other receiverwith which it communicates. Periodically, the transmitter uploadsaccumulated energy information to the wireless power management system.

The present transmitter cluster management method addresses situationsin which a plurality or cluster of transmitters provides power to agiven receiver at a location using pocket-forming. Two or moretransmitters each may execute a procedure for pocket-forming at thegiven receiver, as multiple pockets formed at the receiver by the two ormore transmitters generally would improve power transfer efficiency orcontrol for that receiver.

In transferring power to a given receiver with a plurality oftransmitters, each transmitter will execute the same generalcommunication procedure that applies to power transfers between a singletransmitter and receiver. After forming a BLE communication connectionbetween the respective transmitter and receiver, the transmitter beginssending power transfer signals to the receiver (e.g. 3400 times asecond), and the receiver sends voltage sample measurements back to thetransmitter. Each of the plurality of transmitters would analyze thesevoltage measurements while varying the configuration of the transmitterantennas in phase and gain, until achieving a maximum voltage level. Atthis level, there is maximum energy in the pocket formed by thatrespective transmitter around the receiver. Each transmitter that isexecuting power transfers to the receiver will periodically communicateaccumulated energy information for the receiver, and other status andusage information, to the wireless power management system.

FIG. 17 illustrates steps of cluster management of a plurality orcluster of transmitters TX at a location, to facilitate power transferto a receiver RX. In the initial step 1701, receiver RX establishescommunications with a transmitter TX within the cluster. Uponestablishing communications with receiver RX, the transmitter TXcommunicates the unique identifier of the newly identified powerreceiver RX to the wireless power management system. In one embodimenttransmitter TX is a master transmitter that has been designated tomanage communications for the cluster of transmitters. At step 1703, thewireless power management system determines which transmitters withinthe cluster at that location are available to transfer power to receiverRX.

In one embodiment, the available transmitters TX will include anytransmitter within the cluster capable of transferring power to receiverRX, including the transmitter of step 1701 and any other TX within rangeof the receiver as reported to the management system. One or morewireless power transmitters may automatically transmit power to anysingle wireless power receiver that is close enough for it to establisha communication connection using a suitable communication technology,including Bluetooth Low Energy or the like. The wireless power receivermay then power or charge an electrically connected client device.

However this may not be the case at some locations with a cluster oftransmitters. The system can be configured by the wireless powermanagement system to transmit power only to specific wireless powerreceivers depending on specific system criteria or conditions, such asthe time or hour of the day for automatic time-based scheduled powertransmission, wireless power receiver physical location, owner of clientdevice, or other suitable conditions and/or criteria. For example, atransmitter TX of the cluster of transmitters may be dedicated topowering one or more device of a particular user, wherein other devicesand receivers are not authorized to receive power from that transmitter.In the following discussion, references to available transmitters or totransmitters available to a given receiver mean transmitters that arewithin power transfer range of that receiver, and that can be used totransfer power to that receiver based upon all other considerations,such as any limitation on transmitter use in specific system criteria orconditions recorded in the wireless power management system.

At step 1705, it is assumed that two or more transmitters TX areavailable to transfer power to receiver RX. At this step, the two ormore transmitters coordinate communications with receiver RX in anembodiment (such as Bluetooth® communications) in which only onetransmitter TX can communicate with receiver RX at a time. In oneembodiment as explained below, communications are coordinated by one ofthe two or more transmitters which is selected as a master transmitter.At step 1707, the available transmitters TX transfer power to receiverRX, subject to the coordination of communications at step 1705. At step1709, the management system detects a transmitter communicationstransition within the cluster of transmitters that are in communicationwith receiver RX. This transmitter communications transition may involveone of the available transmitters ceasing its communications withreceiver RX (e.g. due to receiver RX moving out of range of thattransmitter); a new transmitter TX establishing communications withreceiver RX; or a combination of these occurrences. Typically in thisevent, unless the transmitter communications transition entails the endof all connections of receiver RX with transmitters in the cluster, thepower transfer management system and the transmitter(s) available afterthe transition will repeat steps 1703 through 1709 of this clustermanagement method.

FIG. 18 shows the path 1802 of a user with mobile phone in hand, whoenters and travels through a location 1804 including a cluster oftransmitters TX1 1806, TX2 1808, and TX3 1810, As the device andreceiver 1802 travel the path 1802 through nodes A→B→C→D→E→F,transmitters TX1 1806, TX2 1808, and TX3 1810 undergo the followingtransmitter communications transitions: (A) TX1 1806 detects thereceiver and starts transmitting power; (B) The receiver moves out ofrange of TX1 1806 which ceases power transfer; TX2 1808 detects thereceiver and starts transferring power; (C) The receiver moves out ofrange of TX2 1808 which ceases power transfer; TX3 1810 detects thereceiver and starts transferring power; (D) The receiver remains withinrange of TX3 1810 which continues power transfer; TX1 1806 detects thereceiver and re-starts transferring power; (E) The receiver remainswithin range of TX1 1806 and TX3 1810, which continue power transfer;TX2 1808 detects the receiver and re-starts transferring power, so thatall three transmitters are transferring power; and (F) The receivermoves out of range of TX3 1810 which ceases power transfer; the receiverremains within range of TX1 1806 and TX2 1808, which continue powertransfer.

When multiple wireless power transmitters are executing power transfersto a single receiver using BLE communications between transmitters andreceiver, one or more wireless power transmitter managers embedded inthe wireless power transmitters coordinate communications between therespective transmitters and the receiver. Bluetooth protocols onlypermit one communication connection at a time between the wireless powerreceiver and the multiple wireless power transmitters. Wireless powermanager application software within the wireless power transmittermanagers may carry out a routine, as a set of instructions and/oralgorithm, for coordinating communication between communication managersof the multiple wireless power transmitters (wireless power transmittercluster). This routine coordinates contemporaneous communications of therespective wireless power transmitters with the power receiver. As usedin this description of cluster management of wireless powertransmitters, contemporaneous means that at least two wireless powertransmitters communicate with a power receiver during the same generalperiod of time, but it does not mean that more than one wireless powertransmitter communicate with the power receiver at exactly the sametime. In an embodiment, the routine carried out by the wireless powermanager application employs time division multiplexing (TDM) ofcontemporaneous communications between at least two wireless powertransmitters and the power receiver.

In one embodiment involving a centralized control method, the wirelesspower management system selects one of the transmitters as a mastertransmitter. The master transmitter controls the order and timing ofcommunications with the receiver among the plurality of transmittersthat are executing power transfers to the receiver. Alternative methodsfor coordinating communications also are possible besides thiscentralized control method, such as methods involving decentralizedcontrol among the plurality of transmitters.

In a system 1902 illustrated in FIG. 19, each of a plurality or clusterof transmitters TX1 1904, TX2 1906, TX3 1908 is connected with anenterprise bus 1910 such as Wi-Fi or Ethernet. When the system 1902 isinstalled, it is configured for network control, e.g. via a local areanetwork subnet. Transmitters TX1 1904 and TX3 1908 are connected to LAN1910 by Wi-Fi, and TX2 1906 is connected by Ethernet. An access point isincluded at 1912. Thus, the transmitters can exchange communicationsacross a TCP/IP local area subnet, ensuring guaranteed communicationusing TCP sockets. This arrangement also allows the transmitters tobroadcast information using an internet protocol such as the UserDatagram Protocol (UDP), providing communications analogous to Bluetoothadvertising.

When transmitters TX1 1904, TX2 1906, TX3 1908 power up, each of thetransmitters begins regularly to broadcast across the network a messageincluding its IP address and other information identifying thetransmitter. Each transmitter in the network has access to broadcasts ofthe other transmitters, and each transmitter builds a list of alltransmitters of the network, including identification of one of thetransmitters as master transmitter. In a first embodiment of centralizedcontrol, the system identifies as master transmitter the transmitterwith the lowest IP number, here shown as TX3 with IP address192.168.000.3. Within the general approach of centralized control oftransmitter-receiver communications by a master transmitter, otheralgorithms besides lowest IP number can be used to determine the mastertransmitter.

The system repeats this procedure regularly, so that if mastertransmitter TX3 went off line, the remaining transmitters wouldrecalculate and assign one of the remaining transmitters as master. Ifthe other transmitters did not see a UDP broadcast message from themaster transmitter within a set period of time (e.g., 15 seconds), theseremaining transmitters would recalculate the list of availabletransmitters and would assign one of the remaining transmitters asmaster based upon the applicable algorithm (in this embodiment, lowestIP number).

Receiver RX1 1916 periodically broadcasts Bluetooth advertisements asthe device with receiver approaches location 2024 (seen in FIG. 20).When transmitter TX3 1908 first detects a BLE advertisement fromreceiver RX1 1916 (step 1701 in the method of FIG. 17), it acquires thereceiver's unique ID (Bluetooth address), and TX3 transmits thisinformation to the management system 1920 via modem 1912 (bothcommunications are shown schematically at time T1). Management system1920 can reference information on the identified receiver; the localpower management facility including all transmitters; informationpertinent to authorization of the receiver (such as the enterprise oraccount associated with the receiver); pricing information; and otherapplicable information such as information on the transmitter TX3 thatinitiated the communication. In this embodiment, the management system1920 determines that all transmitters in the cluster TX1, TX2 and TX3are available for power transfers to receiver RX1 1916, and sends thismessage to the master transmitter (step 1703 in the method of FIG. 17).

FIGS. 19 and 20 schematically illustrate a method of transmitter clustermanagement at a location (e.g., room 2024). At time T3, managementsystem 1920 sends the master transmitter a message granting receiver RX1access to wireless power transmission by transmitters TX1 1904, TX21906, TX3 1908. After the initial authorization of transfer of power toreceiver RX1 at time T3, in FIG. 20 receiver RX1 is shown entering andmoving across room 2024 at various times T4, T5, and T6. At time T4,receiver RX1 is in range of transmitters TX2 and TX3. At time T5,receiver RX1 enters the range of transmitter TX1 and is in range of allthree transmitters TX1, TX2 and TX3. When transmitter TX1 first detectsreceiver RX1, it sends a message to management system 1920, which sendsthe master transmitter TX3 a return communication granting transmitterTX1 power transfer to receiver RX1.

During a period following time T5, all three transmitters TX1, TX2, andTX3 are available to transfer power to receiver RX1, subject tocoordination of communications of the three transmitters with receiverRX1 by the master transmitter TX3 (step 1705 in the method of FIG. 17).In one embodiment, master transmitter TX3 commands transmitters TX1 andTX2 to limit their communications with the receiver to one second ofevery period of three seconds (i.e. so that transmitters T1, T2 and T3each is allotted one second from the three second period). This could bedone for example by master transmitter TX3 sending one of the othertransmitters an “on” signal at the beginning of the one second periodfor which communications are to occur for that other transmitter, andtransmitter TX3 sending an “off” signal at the end of that period.Alternatively, master transmitter TX3 could send an “on” signal at thebeginning of the “on” period for communications, coupled with theduration of that “on” period. During time periods in which a giventransmitter is not communicating with receiver RX1, the transmitter willcontrol the phase of its transmit antennas based upon the most recentcommunications obtained from the receiver. Given the high volume ofcommunications transmitted by receiver RX1 during each one second “on”period, such intermittent time periods for communications have beenobserved to be sufficient to permit each transmitter to adjust itsantenna phases to regulate power transfer (step 1707 in the method ofFIG. 17), when transmitting power to a receiver in motion.

At time T6, receiver RX3 has left the range of transmitter TX3, whileremaining within the range of transmitters TX1 and TX2. During theperiod in which a transmitter has been authorized to transmit power toan identified receiver, among other data the transmitter communicates tomanagement system 1920, are data on the signal strength of itscommunications with the receiver, so that by time T6 management system1920 detects that transmitter TX3 is out of range for receiver RX1 (step1709 in the method of FIG. 17). Management system 1920 thereupon sends adeny access message for receiver RX1 to transmitter TX3, and selects oneof the remaining transmitters (transmitter TX1, which has the lower IPnumber) as master transmitter. Thereafter, transmitter TX1 controlscommunications between receiver RX1 and the transmitters TX1 and TX2that are still transferring power to receiver RX1.

In addition to tracking which transmitters are within range of a givenreceiver, the management system 1920 can limit the power output to givenreceivers and devices, e.g. based upon safety concerns. Various mobilephones have maximum DC power levels at or just under 4.0 watts (e.g.,3.96, 3.97, 3.98 or 3.99 watts). In the event of a transmitter clustermanagement transition, i.e. a change to the set of transmitters incommunication with a given receiver, management system 1920 can send amessage to the master transmitter to ensure compliance with anyapplicable maximum power level. This message would instruct availabletransmitters to limit power transfer from individual transmitters amongthe cluster of transmitters, thereby to ensure safe power transfers fromeach transmitter.

The foregoing discussion describes controlling cluster management oftransmitters through the interaction of a cluster of transmitters with awireless power management system, preferably a cloud computingmanagement system with networked remote servers are networked forcentralized data storage and online access to data management services.In an alternative embodiment, the cluster of transmitters achievestransmitter cluster management under the control of the transmittersthemselves, without oversight by a wireless power management system.This is possible since the transmitters themselves can replicate most ofthe management information and functionality used by the wireless powermanagement system in transmitter cluster management.

The transmitter cluster management scheme discussed above involveshierarchical management of all transmitters at given locations,sometimes herein called a transmitter cluster, in controlling powertransfer by the transmitters to a receiver at that location. Othertransmitter cluster management schemes are possible, which may managetransmitter-receiver connections at any level of a hierarchicalstructure. For example, the management system may define a giventransmitter cluster as a subset of all transmitters at a location, andmanage receiver interactions only with these transmitters separate fromother transmitters at the location. Furthermore, the transmitter clustermanagement scheme may manage transmitter-receiver power transfers andcommunications across multiple, neighboring locations. For example, twoneighboring households each may have two transmitters, which may beorganized into one or two clusters managed by the cloud based powertransfer management system. The system could manage neighboringlocations as clusters, so all four transmitters would be part of onecluster; or, the system could manage each billing address as a separatecluster, so there would be two clusters each with two transmitters.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed, other aspectsand embodiments are contemplated. The various aspects and embodimentsdisclosed are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to belimiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by thefollowing claims.

The foregoing method descriptions and the interface configuration areprovided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to requireor imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed inthe order presented. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the artthe steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order.Words such as “then,” “next,” etc. are not intended to limit the orderof the steps; these words are simply used to guide the reader throughthe description of the methods. Although process flow diagrams maydescribe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operationscan be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order ofthe operations may be re-arranged. A process may correspond to a method,a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a processcorresponds to a function, its termination may correspond to a return ofthe function to the calling function or the main function.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, andalgorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosedhere may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, orcombinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms oftheir functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented ashardware or software depends upon the particular application and designconstraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans mayimplement the described functionality in varying ways for eachparticular application, but such implementation decisions should not beinterpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the presentinvention.

Embodiments implemented in computer software may be implemented insoftware, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware descriptionlanguages, or any combination thereof. A code segment ormachine-executable instructions may represent a procedure, a function, asubprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a softwarepackage, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures,or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another codesegment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information,data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments,parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via anysuitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing,network transmission, etc.

The actual software code or specialized control hardware used toimplement these systems and methods is not limiting of the invention.Thus, the operation and behavior of the systems and methods weredescribed without reference to the specific software code beingunderstood that software and control hardware can be designed toimplement the systems and methods based on the description here.

When implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or moreinstructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable orprocessor-readable storage medium. The steps of a method or algorithmdisclosed here may be embodied in a processor-executable software modulewhich may reside on a computer-readable or processor-readable storagemedium. A non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable mediaincludes both computer storage media and tangible storage media thatfacilitate transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Anon-transitory processor-readable storage media may be any availablemedia that may be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and notlimitation, such non-transitory processor-readable media may compriseRAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other tangible storagemedium that may be used to store desired program code in the form ofinstructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computeror processor. Disk and disc, as used here, include compact disc (CD),laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, andBlu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, whilediscs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the aboveshould also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as oneor any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on anon-transitory processor-readable medium and/or computer-readablemedium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for selecting which power transmittershould deliver wireless power to a device in a wireless power deliverynetwork, the system comprising: a plurality of power transmitters, eachrespective power transmitter communicatively coupled to a respectivetransmitter manager, the plurality of power transmitters including: afirst power transmitter communicatively coupled to a first transmittermanager that is configured to detect, based on communication signalsreceived from a wireless power receiver, a first signal strength levelassociated with the wireless power receiver and; a second powertransmitter communicatively coupled to a second transmitter manager thatis configured to detect, based on communication signals received fromthe wireless power receiver, a second signal strength level associatedwith the wireless power receiver; wherein: when the first signalstrength level is greater than the second signal strength level, thefirst transmitter manager instructs the first power transmitter totransmit radio frequency (RF) power waves to the wireless powerreceiver; and when the second signal strength level is greater than thefirst signal strength level, the second transmitter manager instructsthe second power transmitter to transmit RF power waves to the wirelesspower receiver; the wireless power receiver is configured to convertenergy from the RF powers waves into usable power for charging thewireless power receiver or a device that is coupled with the wirelesspower receiver.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the wireless powerreceiver is less than 30 feet away from the first and second powertransmitters.
 3. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least onedatabase configured for storing information related to the device, theinformation selected from the group consisting of charging history,charging schedules, charging status, device ID, and combinationsthereof.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein each respective transmittermanager provides the information related to the device to a respectivepower transmitter that is communicatively coupled thereto.
 5. The systemof claim 1, wherein each respective transmitter manager communicateswith the wireless power receiver via a protocol selected from the groupconsisting of Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, Wi-Fi, NFC, ZigBee, andcombinations thereof.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein each respectivetransmitter manager communicably delivers to at least one remote serverinformation related to performance of the plurality of powertransmitters, performance of the wireless power receiver, or informationrelated to the device.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein: when the firstsignal strength level is greater than the second signal strength level,the first signal strength level is also greater than a signal strengththreshold and the first power transmitter is the only power transmitterof the plurality of power transmitters that is transmitting RF waves tothe wireless power receiver, and when the second signal strength levelis greater than the first signal strength level, the second signalstrength level is also greater than the signal strength threshold andthe second power transmitter is the only power transmitter of theplurality of power transmitters that is transmitting RF waves to thewireless power receiver.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the signalstrength threshold corresponds to a signal strength level that is 40% orgreater of a maximum signal transmission capability of the wirelesspower receiver.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the first and secondtransmitter managers are configured to: compare the first and secondsignal strength levels; and determine (i) when the first signal strengthlevel is greater than the second signal strength and (ii) when thesecond signal strength level is greater than the first signal strengthlevel.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein: the first power transmitteris located in a first physical room, and the second power transmitter islocated in a second physical room that is distinct from the firstphysical room.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein: when the first signalstrength level is greater than the second signal strength level, thewireless power receiver is located in the first physical room, and whenthe second signal strength level is greater than the first signalstrength level, the wireless power receiver is located in the secondphysical room.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein the wireless powerreceiver is integrated with the device.
 13. The system of claim 1,wherein the first transmitter manager and the second transmitter managerare a same transmitter manager.
 14. A method for selecting which powertransmitter should deliver wireless power to a device in a wirelesspower delivery network, the method comprising: at a system comprising aplurality of power transmitters, each respective power transmittercommunicatively coupled to a respective transmitter manager, theplurality of power transmitters including a first power transmittercommunicatively coupled to a first transmitter manager and a secondpower transmitter communicatively coupled to a second transmittermanager: detecting by the first transmitter manager, based oncommunication signals received from a wireless power receiver, a firstsignal strength level associated with the wireless power receiver;detecting by the second transmitter manager, based on communicationsignals received from the wireless power receiver, a second signalstrength level associated with the wireless power receiver; instructing,by the first transmitter manager, the first power transmitter totransmit radio frequency (RF) power waves to the wireless power receiverwhen the first signal strength level is greater than the second signalstrength level; and instructing, by the second transmitter manager, thesecond power transmitter to transmit RF power waves to the wirelesspower receiver when the second signal strength level is greater than thefirst signal strength level, wherein the wireless power receiver isconfigured to convert energy from the RF powers waves into usable powerfor charging the wireless power receiver or a device that is coupledwith the wireless power receiver.
 15. The method of claim 14, whereinthe wireless power receiver is less than 30 feet away from the first andsecond power transmitters.
 16. The method of claim 14, furthercomprising at least one database configured for storing informationrelated to the device, the information selected from the groupconsisting of charging history, charging schedules, charging status,device ID, and combinations thereof.
 17. The method of claim 16, whereineach respective transmitter manager provides information related to thedevice to a respective power transmitter that is communicatively coupledthereto.
 18. The method of claim 14, wherein: when the first signalstrength level is greater than the second signal strength level, thefirst signal strength level is also greater than a signal strengththreshold and the first power transmitter is the only power transmitterof the plurality of power transmitters that is transmitting RF waves tothe wireless power receiver, and when the second signal strength levelis greater than the first signal strength level, the second signalstrength level is also greater than the signal strength threshold andthe second power transmitter is the only power transmitter of theplurality of power transmitters that is transmitting RF waves to thewireless power receiver.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the signalstrength threshold corresponds to a signal strength level that is 40% orgreater of a maximum signal transmission capability of the wirelesspower receiver.
 20. The method of claim 14, wherein the first and secondtransmitter managers are configured to: compare the first and secondsignal strength levels; and determine (i) when the first signal strengthlevel is greater than the second signal strength and (ii) when thesecond signal strength level is greater than the first signal strengthlevel.
 21. The method of claim 14, wherein: the first power transmitteris located in a first physical room, and the second power transmitter islocated in a second physical room that is distinct from the firstphysical room.
 22. The method of claim 14, wherein: when the firstsignal strength level is greater than the second signal strength level,the wireless power receiver is located in the first physical room, andwhen the second signal strength level is greater than the first signalstrength level, the wireless power receiver is located in the secondphysical room.
 23. The method of claim 14, wherein the wireless powerreceiver is integrated with the device.
 24. The method of claim 14,wherein the first transmitter manager and the second transmitter managerare a same transmitter manager.
 25. A non-transitory, computer-readablestorage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programscomprising instructions that, when executed by a plurality oftransmitter managers that are each communicatively coupled to arespective transmitter of a plurality of transmitters, the plurality ofpower transmitters including a first power transmitter communicativelycoupled to a first transmitter manager and a second power transmittercommunicatively coupled to a second transmitter manager, cause theplurality of transmitter managers to: detect by the first transmittermanager, based on communication signals received from a wireless powerreceiver, a first signal strength level associated with the wirelesspower receiver; detect by the second transmitter manager, based oncommunication signals received from the wireless power receiver, asecond signal strength level associated with the wireless powerreceiver; instruct, by the first transmitter manager, the first powertransmitter to transmit radio frequency (RF) power waves to the wirelesspower receiver when the first signal strength level is greater than thesecond signal strength level; and instruct, by the second transmittermanager, the second power transmitter to transmit RF power waves to thewireless power receiver when the second signal strength level is greaterthan the first signal strength level, wherein the wireless powerreceiver is configured to convert energy from the RF powers waves intousable power for charging the wireless power receiver or a device thatis coupled with the wireless power receiver.